Bondi plant-based restaurant launches first trial food hub at David Jones Food Hall

With two locations and $2.5m raised so far, Flave has bold plans to conquer the world in the next decade as it looks to entice new investors through equity crowd-funding platform Birchal.

Flave's Co-Founders Samantha and Stuart Cook. want 1000 stores in a decade. Picture: John Feder.

Is there really that much demand for plant-based dining?

Flave, founded by Sydney couple Samantha and Stuart Cook certainly thinks there is. The pair, who have opened their first outlet in David Jones Bondi Junction, say they are aiming for 600 franchises within the next five years.

In a decade? 1000 outlets.

Mr Cook, the former CEO of Mexican fast food chain Zambrero, says the company has already signed a deal with a master franchisee in India who plans to open 42 outlets in Hyderabad and Bangalore starting in March.

“Feeding vegetarians, vegan food isn’t the mission … but if we can go and end up in Texas we can help reduce the consumption of meat in the world and that’s where we can make the biggest impact from a sustainability standpoint,” Mr Cook said.

Flave’s menu is developed, curated and cooked by celebrity chef

In Australia, Flave will open its next store in Darlinghurst, in Sydney’s inner east, early next year.

“We see the rise of plant based foods becoming almost this normalised way of eating, and we’re really at the forefront of that – we’re at the beginning of the mega trend,” Ms Cook said.

One third of Australians have already reduced their meat consumption over the past year, amid a growing global trend of “flexitarians” – people who opt to switch out meat in favour of plant proteins, but not always.

Flave has secured $2.5m in a Series A fundraising round, with plans to crowdfund a $2m through the Birchal platform.

“Basically it allows people to invest as little as $50 into Flave and get upside of a private company where typically retail investors would only get to do it,” Mr Cook said. “It’s an amazing chance for everyday Australians to be able to invest for the first time and become a shareholder.”

“We’ve got the ex-COO and ex-CFO of Zambrero who have joined the (Flave) team, we’ve got a number of mentors who guided me back in Zambrero who have now invested into the business,” Mr Cook added.

Originally published as Bondi plant-based restaurant launches first trial food hub at David Jones Food Hall