WILMINGTON — It pays to eat clean. In just seven years, Wilmington-based Clean Eatz has expanded to 34 locations since its flagship storefront opened on Racine Drive.
In terms of numbers, Clean Eatz is the top franchise born out of Wilmington. With 16 fewer years experience, it even beat out Port City Java when it comes to the number of franchise locations.
Sixty-six additional franchises are signed and committed as of 2018, and now, Clean Eatz’s meals are available to outside distributors across the states.
This month, the franchise has kicked off its major distribution agreement with Europa Sports Products, a national nutritional product distributor based out of Charlotte.
The partnership has enabled Clean Eatz to book deals with branches of the U.S. Military, gyms and supplement stores. Every Monday, Clean Eatz churns out 6,000 meals out of its Racine Drive anchor to be delivered across the states, in addition to its 2,500 weekly meals offered to local, loyal customers.
So far, Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point and Parris Island military bases have all signed on to receive Clean Eatz meals.
Right on time
For Evonne and Don Varaday, it’s all about timing.
“There wasn’t a Whole Foods, there wasn’t a Trader Joes,” Evonne Varaday said. Varaday and her husband were bodybuilders, just looking to soak up the sun.
“We actually came to Wilmington to enjoy the beach,” Varaday said. “We came here to chill actually.”
It was 2011, a time when Instagram was just a year old. CrossFit was gaining popularity and the “fitspo” revolution was on the horizon.
“Our business is 100 percent social media,” Varaday said.
The couple partnered with Jason Nista early on, who helped Fuzzy Peach reach its franchise agreement with U-Swirl Frozen Yogurt.
Clean Eatz offers meal plan options for people looking to lead a healthy lifestyle. Varaday credits part of the brand’s success to the large and loyal audience it caters to.
Rather than stopping in for a meal every so often, Clean Eatz customers are on plans.
“I think that’s what so attractive with us, is we have these relationships,” Varaday said. “We’re in their lives, we hold them accountable for their goals.”
“from the financial part of it, we’re kind of trying to break the franchise model.” — Evonne varaday
Breaking the mold
In addition to a large potential customer base, Clean Eatz is hitting a younger audience of franchise owners. Most franchisers are an average age of 28 to 30 years old.
“The typical franchise models are very cookie cutter,” Varaday said. “You order this, you do this, you do that, there is no wiggle room.”
Clean Eatz looks out for unoccupied or out of business Tex-Mex and Asian fast-casual restaurants to apply its model to.
Its flexibility in design and menu are permitting more franchise owners to feel comfortable taking on the brand.
“From the financial part of it, we’re kind of trying to break the franchise model,” Varaday said.
Johanna Ferebee can be reached at [email protected] or @j__ferebee on Twitter
