The husband-wife team of Trace and Jammie Miller came up with the concept, which simplifies the food preparation of protein bowls and salads. The company signed a pair off multi-unit deals in Washington and Utah
At 27, Tyson Adams has already accumulated a substantial amount of restaurant experience after owning and operating a food truck and then managing Jersey Mike’s Subs stores in Washington.
The young and enthusiastic restaurateur is ready to take the next step as one of the first franchisees for Konala, a healthy fast food brand founded by the husband-wife team of Trace and Jammie Miller. Adams, who plans to open five locations in Utah starting in Salt Lake City this winter, is prepping for restaurant ownership by managing Konala’s first franchise location in Spokane, Washington.
Konala recently launched its franchise program with Fransmart and signed its first multi-unit deals in Washington and Utah. The Idaho-based company enters one of the faster-growing restaurant segments with consumers, especially the younger demographics, gravitating to more healthy lifestyles and diets, according to a number of recent studies.
“Why did I choose Konala? Because it fits with where I believe the QSR segment is heading,” Adams said. “It’s healthy and convenient food and it also fits with my personal lifestyle. I’m a health and fitness enthusiast and I just think it truly is what the consumer wants now.”
Pronounced “koe-nah-luh” and named after the Millers’ two dogs, Kona and Nala, Konala features a gluten-free, high-protein menu with chicken, beef, shrimp and poke bowls and salads that come with the choice of white or brown rice and greens. The menu and drive-thru floorplans for the brand may look simple on first glance, said Trace Miller, but he said it took “literally 300 iterations before we got it right.”
“Simple scales, fancy fails,” said Miller, an Army veteran who was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy as a child and said he was cured by following a specialized diet. “We’ve strategically simplified our menu and kitchen operations to be easy to operate and scalable. We want it to be simple for the staff so it’s easier to operate and maintain.”
Like Adams, the Millers got their start in the restaurant business as independent food truck operators. After serving burgers and fries, they made the decision to change directions altogether and came up with their own healthy food concept.
“Most Americans eat unhealthy, processed food. We want to improve lives, not destroy them,” said Miller. “So we came up with Konala that checks off all the boxes for our customers and our franchisees.
“Our kitchens have no fryers, no grills and no flat tops, which makes operations efficient and streamlined,” he continued. “You only need one cook in our Konala kitchens, which is very rare for a food business with our volume and they’re not standing over greasy fryers so they don’t come out smelling all gross and disgusting.”
The initial investment range for a Konala franchise is $428,500 to $750,500, according to the franchise disclosure document, with the total investment for a freestanding drive-thru restaurant model in the $874,000 to $1.2 million range. First-year gross sales reported for the company’s Post Falls location were about $1.2 million.
The company is registered to franchise in Washington and Utah, with plans to register in all 50 states later this year. Miller said they have lofty goals: 1,000 units and average unit volumes of $2 million within 10 years.
Adams, who has managed the Spokane store since its opening in January when it took over a former Carl Jr.’s restaurant, estimated that 60 percent of the business has been drive-thru sales, with 40 percent coming from in-store diners.
He said the positive response from the community has been overwhelming.
“It’s been nothing short of amazing—by far the busiest restaurant I’ve ever run,” said Adams, who got his start running a food truck that served hot press paninis and waffles before managing a group of Jersey Mike’s stores in his home state of Washington for an absentee owner.
“We open our doors at 10 in the morning and close at 9 and I worked every day almost all those hours for the first two weeks just to keep up with the demand with the customers flooding in,” Adams said. “It’s going to be great in Utah. I can promise you that.”