rero GM, Karim Messih, told Inside Retail PREMIUM the brand is gearing up for a huge six months. “Our pipeline and development schedule indicates we are going to hit those numbers, which is going to be amazing, and then over the next three to five years we are looking at up to 500 restaurants around Australia. “We’re also looking at global expansion. This month we are going to open our first restaurant in Thailand, and in addition to that, we have signed an agreement with New Zealand, so we’re going to be opening up restaurants in NZ over the next six months as well,” he said. Zambrero is no ordinary franchise – since its conception in 2005 it has partnered with international humanitarian organisation, Stop Hunger Now, and for every bowl or burrito sold (which account for 80 per cent of sales), a meal is donated to developing countries, and more recently, Foodbank, which feeds homeless Australians. “We really are known for our food, we are in the business of food, and basically that is the first and foremost of what we are about, but behind the food are our humanitarian values,” said Messih. “We’re doing a lot of behind the scenes work at the moment to launch this new ‘Mexican with a mission’ tagline, where we want to go and tell our customers that apart from the Mexican food we are offering, we actually do have a mission, and that mission is to help stop hunger around the world.” Each month Zambrero contributes the cost of 150,000 meals to Stop Hunger Now, and Foodbank. These meals consist of rice, lentils and vitamins, and are distributed to more than 65 countries around the world. To date more than 2.8 million meals have been donated. “This concept is going to rock the world,” said Messih. AT A GLANCE: Founded: 2005 Store count: 50 Meals donated to: 65 countries Meals donated per month: 150,000 Total meals donated: 2.8 million