Business Franchise Australia

Roll’d

Vietnam-Easy

Since the first Roll’d store opened its doors in 2012 in Melbourne’s bustling CBD, Roll’d Vietnamese has enjoyed enormous growth and has successfully expanded to over 100 stores nationwide.

Inspired by great Vietnamese traditions and with a menu built from Hoang family recipes, Roll’d CEO Bao Hoang opened the first store in partnership with Ray Esquires and Bao’s cousin, Tin Ly.

Roll’d has not only scaled up quickly, but has also adapted the concept through innovations that meet the team’s vision to feed more Australians healthy Vietnamese food more often.

One such innovation is the recently opened store-within-a-store in Coles Moonee Ponds, Victoria in March 2021. The first of its kind. The significant partnership with Coles continues to echo the partners’ shared commitment to innovation and in supporting Australians with fresher, healthier and more convenient options at all consumer touch points.

Offering the entire menu and a range of convenient pre-packed grab-and-go meals, Roll’d Vietnamese Moonee Ponds provides an opportunity for shoppers to pick up a fresh meal in between browsing the aisles, packaged grab-and-go meals for later and deliciously refreshing Roll’d Iced Teas and Vietnamese Iced Coffee.

Now, the opportunity to take home the fresh taste of Vietnam is elevated to the next level, with Roll’d’s authentic Vietnamese pantry items and condiments available for purchase in Coles supermarkets and Roll’d Vietnamese stores nationwide.

The new product range includes four sauces, rice paper, vermicelli noodles and rolling trays, offering customers the opportunity to further expand their knowledge about traditional Vietnamese favourites by preparing their own Vietnamese recipes with their family at home.

Eager to educate Australians on how to prepare traditional Vietnamese, Roll’d Vietnamese have also prepared a range of tutorials and recipe ideas designed to suit all skills and dietary requirements. It’s as simple as scanning the QR code on the back of any Roll’d Vietnamese product.

Like all good recipes, Roll’d Vietnamese sauces are bottled with love and share the sweet and spicy flavours of the Hoang family kitchen including Sticky Hoisin, Spicy Hoisin, Chilli Mayo and Mama Hoang’s Nước mắm.

Using four key ingredients; tapioca flour, water, rice flour and salt, get rolling with Roll’d Vietnamese tried-and-tested Classic Rice Paper. Long skinny Rice Vermicelli Noodles are made of a no-nasties mix of rice flour and water and are the perfect thickness to master Roll’d Vietnamese favourites from home.

To complete your rolling ritual, customers can purchase fuss-free and mess-free Rice Paper Rolling Trays, available in Roll’d Vietnamese stores and online only.

Founded and led by CEO Bao Hoang, Roll’d Vietnamese continues to identify new ways of enhancing and simplifying the delivery and accessibility of fresh takeaway options that are now available for DIY at home.

 

Interview with Venice Phan

The National Franchise Manager & Franchisee of Roll’d Pacific Square (NSW)

How long have you been working with Roll’d Vietnamese? What were you doing prior to franchising?

I joined Roll’d Vietnamese back in 2013 when they had just four stores in Melbourne’s CBD, and I was fortunate enough to assist in-store operations at the second store. Now, I am in the 8th year with Roll’d Vietnamese and still counting as my passion continues to grow with so many opportunities and challenges waiting for me to unlock.

When I first joined, Roll’d Vietnamese was still a new concept of fast Vietnamese food that ‘wrapped in freshness, daily’ (our old slogan). Not only was I impressed with the brilliant and effcient operations that convert fresh Vietnamese fresh into a fast but fresh concept (our average speed of service is under 4 minutes, and we still manage to deliver the fresh and flavoursome essence of Vietnamese cuisine), I was also amazed by the entrepreneurial ambition of our founders demonstrated by an enormous expansion plan across Victoria, ACT, Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia. During the early stage of the expansion, I had the privilege to assist with store openings, training and operations interstate.

The most considerable milestone for me remains my move to New South Wales from Victoria to assist with the expansion in this state. This opportunity has sharpened my operational skills and knowledge and remains such a strong foundation for my current career in franchising and investing in my own Roll’d Vietnamese store. I am lucky enough to represent Roll’d Vietnamese as a franchisor while acting as a Franchisee. This advantage enables me to walk in both shoes to understand concerns and expectations to deliver the most relevant support.

What are the biggest challenge faced by prospective franchisees?

From my experience assisting a number of franchisee candidates, finance is probably the first and foremost challenge that may postpone people’s dreams. Understanding finance is a key matter. Roll’d Vietnamese currently have preferred status with some financial institutions. These brokers have successfully assisted many of our current franchisees with secured finance for their stores and may assist potential candidates.

How has Covid affected Franchising?

The outbreak of Covid has had significant economic, political and social impact worldwide and because of this, we see many prospective franchisees feeling apprehensive in investing.

Although Covid has had a damaging effect on the economy of many Australian businesses, we are hopeful that Australia will recover greatly.

We are confident that our business leaders, including Roll’d Vietnamese founder and CEO, Bao Hoang, who is a member on the Australian Governments National COVID-19 Coordination Commission, has future-proofed our business to ensure a secure future, while reducing the negative economic impacts of the health crisis. In 2020, Roll’d Vietnamese launched several incentives to assist with sales and job maintenance, such as the Roll’d Runner, Roll’d Delivery, Roll’d Meal Box; the head office staff were deployed to assist Roll’d stores during the lockdown to encourage franchisees to keep their stores open while we weathered the worst of the pandemic.

Further to this, Roll’d Vietnamese proudly opened 10 new stores, serving almost 4.3M hungry customers during the pandemic and welcoming existing Franchisees to join our multi-site owner club, bringing the multi-site owner rate up to 33%.

We saw a number of corporate store managers step up to become their own bosses and continue to expand our office support time.

What have you learnt over the past 12 months?

One of the most valuable things I have personally learnt during 2020 is to recognise opportunities are always available, even throughout crisis.

This applies to myself and ten of our Franchisees who opened their own stores in the (most) challenging year of business. Success comes to those who see the right opportunities at the right time, are determined enough to make decision, and dedicate ‘all-in’ into the success of their business.

Once you are a part of the Roll’d Vietnamese family, we guarantee you are greatly supported and set you up for success. Our corporate team will walk the journey with you, because firmly believe the success of our Franchisees is the success of Roll’d Vietnamese.

What advice would you give those looking to purchasing a Roll’d Vietnamese franchise?

One of the most frequently asked questions is ‘Do I need to have experience in food and beverage to become Roll’d Vietnamese Franchisees?’ and while having experience in hospitality is advantageous, it is by no means compulsory.

Instead, we seek franchise partners who fit into our strong brand values and possess passion, commitment and a hunger for success.

We recommend franchise candidates do their research and familiarise themselves with the Roll’d Vietnamese brand prior to application. That involves talking to our Franchisees who are at different stages of the franchising journey to understand what it takes to become their own boss, consulting with professional business advisors, accountants, and solicitors to assist with decision making.

We are dedicated to supporting our franchisees from the begin of their Roll’d Vietnamese journey and are happy to provide assistance and guidance in the decision-making process.