Mad Mex Madness

Mad Mex Madness

If you haven't heard of Mad Mex yet, you will very, very soon! Mad Mex is a customisable and casual Mexican restaurant (think Subway, but Mexican with an alcohol licence) that is healthy and unbelievably delicious! Mad Mex creates gourmet burritos, tacos, nachos, fajitas and quesadillas all made to order which allows you to choose exactly how you want to make your Mexican meal! Mad Mex is passionate about only using the freshest and highest of quality ingredients; the guacamole is made in store from fresh avocados daily.

Unlike the typical Mexican food found in Australia, at Mad Mex the meat is slow cooked and soft (no chewy steak). The burrito (or naked burrito - burrito without the wrap) with chicken is one of the most popular choices for Mad Mex regulars and I suggest everyone tries the corn chips - it's amazing how different and light the Mad Mex version is.

If it's lunchtime or you don't want an alcoholic beverage try one of the amazingly delicious Mexican sodas (guava is my favourite). Mad Mex even boasts a funky decor; I especially love the corona chandeliers!

Cuisine
Mad Mex's new fresh Mexican cuisine was unlike anything Australian diners had experienced - a chef designed menu that blended in the bold flavours of Mexico with the health-conscience of California - all made to order and served in a matter of minutes.

Mad Mex was one of the first Fast Casual restaurants providing restaurant quality, gourmet, made-to-order burritos, tacos, nachos, fajitas and quesadillas served quickly and it's this combination that sets Mad Mex apart from its competitors. The menu is completely customisable, allowing customers to choose exactly what makes up their meal and tailoring it to their personal tastes and dietary requirements.

Design
Mad Mex is new, fresh and different and the brand reflects that. No sombreros, donkeys or mariachi bands - the Mad Mex brand is young, energetic and vibrant and this is mirrored in the stores. The environmental design of each restaurant was created around the 'luche libre' Mexican wrestling theme, and the graphic-heavy interiors have struck a chord with young diners. The concept earned international recognition as a Merit Award winner in the Society of Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) Awards in Washington DC, USA and locally, Mad Mex's website and packaging was the recipient of Desktop: Create Award in 2008.
Innovations like a custom made Corona chandelier make Mad Mex a fun place to be.

Nutrition
In December 2010, Mad Mex led the Fast Casual industry into the takeaway dining health revolution by launching the first online nutritional calculator in Australia. This move to increase nutritional transparency means that customers can now calculate the nutritional content of their custom made meal at the touch of a button, allowing them to choose items to suit their exact nutritional needs.

Available online (www.madmex.com.au/nutrition) and also optimised for smart phones, the initiative came months ahead of new regulations to be introduced in New South Wales from February 2011. As regulations now make it compulsory for fast food outlets with more than twenty stores in NSW or 50 stores nationwide to display the kilojoules contained in each menu item, this unique interactive tool determines saturated fat, calories, kilojoules, sugar, protein and carbohydrates as customers build their meal.

The launch of the Nutritional Calculator coincided with Mad Mex becoming trans-fat free, using rice bran oil for all cooking. This reinforced Mad Mex's focus on refining their offering to be the freshest and healthiest fast food dining option.

Growth
Named as one of BRW's Fast Starters in 2010, Mad Mex was the first Mexican fast casual to expand interstate. In 2010, Young opened locations in Melbourne and Brisbane, and expanded to seven locations in New South Wales. Mad Mex now operates four corporate-owned stores and five franchised locations, with two franchisees as multiple site operators. Mad Mex has firmly held a leadership position in fast-casual Mexican space, with nine stores in three states now in operation and plans to have 17 stores by the end of 2011.

Mad Mex has structured partnerships and strategic alliances with a range of suppliers, including premium alcohol distributor, Brown Forman. Their premium tequila brand, Herradura which includes El JImador, is the number one selling tequila in Mexico, and Mad Mex's $8 margarita and tequila tasting nights quickly became a Sydney favourite. A marketing partnership with Brown Forman was initiated in 2008, and continues to grow in scale year on year. Young is also the exclusive importer of Tapatio hot sauce, a favourite amongst Californian Baja Mexican food lovers for over forty years.

While market share is difficult to gauge, customer satisfaction is not. From day one, customer engagement with the Mad Mex brand was key for Young and feedback has been overwhelming positive in both survey-based research and social media platforms. Mad Mex is positioned as a 'young' brand, appealing to early adopters who are willing to try new things and share their experiences with the social networks.

Mad Mex Melbourne Central Store Now Open
Office workers and shoppers in Melbourne's CBD will have the chance to feast on some of Mexico's finest with the opening of the first Mad Mex outlet in the city's Central Business District. The Melbourne Central store is part of the recently opened high-end Dining Hall in the popular Melbourne Central arcade.

Mad Mex offers Australia's most authentic Mexican cuisine, with a Baja Californian-inspired menu of delicious and nutritious burritos, nachos, quesadillas and more all prepared with only the freshest ingredients and served in a fast casual format that can be prepared to dine in or takeaway. The made-to-order system of preparation allows diners to customise their meals to their exact taste and preference. The Melbourne Central store will be the brand's second outlet in Victoria, the first in Windsor having opened its doors in March of last year.

"Having a presence in the Melbourne CBD is very exciting for Mad Mex," says Founder, Clovis Young. "The people of Melbourne really do appreciate fine food and prioritise quality over pure convenience more than other cities. Based on the success our store in Windsor has seen so far, the people of Melbourne seem to really appreciate that Mad Mex is about quality first."

As well as using only the freshest produce and ingredients, also of paramount importance to the Mad Mex brand is a menu of food that's nutritious, the cuisine a blend of the bold flavours of Mexico with the health consciousness of neighboring California. Mad Mex operates a nutritional calculator available through their website (www.madmex.com.au) and optimised for Smart Phones that allows health-conscious customers to calculate the exact nutritional content of their meal with complete transparency.

Melbourne Central is the company's tenth store nationally with more locations in Victoria expected to follow.
To locate your nearest Mad Mex restaurant, head to (www.madmex.com.au).

Clovis Young

Director and Founder Mad Mex Fresh Mexican Grill Pty Ltd
From day one, Clovis Young set out to redefine Mexican food in Australia.
Clovis Young opened the first Mad Mex Fresh Mexican Grill in Crown Street Darlinghurst in November 2007 and by the end of 2011 will have an estimated 17 outlets, nationally. Creating Mad Mex was the realisation of a lifelong dream for Californian born Young who started working in the restaurant business when he was 13 years old.

Having developed a passion for Mexican food when growing up in California, Young identified the opportunity to introduce Australians to the new fresh and healthy Mexican food concept sweeping the United States - one where the food was served quickly but without the quality compromises of other large scale Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs).

Armed with an MBA, experience in the finance market in the US, an entrepreneurial spirit and a bold vision to launch Australia?s most respected Mexican brand, Clovis and wife Angela developed the business plan for over a year, sold their Florida home and moved to Sydney to bring the Mad Mex vision to life.

Clovis managed the flagship Darlinghurst location for the first 18 months of operation. During those 60-hour workweeks, he fine-tuned the menu with a respected Mexican chef, assembled a core team that helped him define the vision and mission for Mad Mex, and set in place the foundation for a business poised for growth.

As BRW stated on 24th Feb 2011 in their Franchise Edition "The heath and well being sector is a growth sector to watch in the coming 12 months.....Fast food chains with a healthy message such as Californian Baja style Mexican Food restaurants are gaining traction" and Mad Mex is leading the charge.

Young's forward-thinking vision led to the development of systems and procedures that rival businesses ten times Mad Mex?s size, and set in place an infrastructure which allowed for rapid growth. Since 2007, Mad Mex has grown to 9 stores in 3 states with another 6-8 stores set to open before the end of 2011. Clovis is still hands on, keenly focused on the culture and business network required to maintain and sustain Mad Mex's growth. Supported by an ever-increasing management team, Clovis' passion for constant product improvement and development sees him leading the industry with an award-winning concept and one of the fastest growing fast-casual food brands in Australia.

A celebrity clientele including Russell Crowe, Guy Sebastian, Wes Carr, Brian McFadden and US-rockers Joel and Benji Madden led to enhanced buzz and chatter. Mad Mex now has thousands of customers engaging with the brand across Twitter and Facebook.