Delicious is our middle name: Taco Del Mar … the fresh, fast and fun alternative to traditional Mexican food

Nation's Restaurant News,  Dec 10, 2007  

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Taco Del Mar is the fresh, fast and fun alternative to traditional Mexican food serving high quality, fresh and healthy ingredients in our Mondo Burritos, Rippin'Tacos and platters.

Taco Del Mar is a return to the beach--a comfortable oasis offering a quick healthy meal served in a warm shore atmosphere. As one of the top five national contenders in the quick-casual Mexican dining segment, we are clearly a developing brand.

BECOMING A NATIONAL PLAYER

Taco Del Mar opened its doors in 1992, beginning as a prominent fish taco stand on Seattle's historic Pier 57. The founders, brothers James and John Schmidt, found that there was an opportunity to develop this into a larger business and began franchising soon after they opened.

James discovered fish tacos while studying at the University of California at San Diego. His inspiration for Taco Del Mar was the funky shoreline shacks that dotted the Southern California and Baja Beaches, feeding big burritos and tacos to the hungry surfers and beach crowd. There was something very real about the food that was fresh, fast, flavorful and filling.

By 2002 Taco Del Mar had become a major brand in the markets around the Pacific Northwest. There were opportunities to expand across the country based on the simple economics of the franchising model and the eagerness of customers looking for healthy and convenient food opportunities.

Embracing the Master Developer concept of finding market partners to grow the brand, a cautious eastward development program got underway. "The Master Developer program allows us to grow with multi-unit owners who have the knowledge of the markets that they're in. They understand not only the food business but the real estate, construction and marketing needed to build out a market," said James Schmidt.

Taco Del Mar now has over 4o Master Developers in place managing the growth of over 140 markets.

AN EYE ON FRANCHISE PROFITABILITY

Taco Del Mar has always believed that great franchise partnerships create great franchise successes. We have built our organization with the understanding that the health of our business starts with the franchisee.

* We begin each day focused on franchise profitability

* We strive to be the best franchisor in the food business.

* We understand the value of creating a concept that is quick and easy to replicate.

* We develop our system to return the highest ROI to the franchisee in the shortest time.

* We know that a profitable franchise system drives corporate profitability, not the other way around.

* We embrace new ideas.

* We believe in our franchisees.

UNPARALLELED FRANCHISE SUPPORT

Beginning the day you meet with us, you will experience a professional field and corporate support system to help you through each step of the journey You'll receive support from us in:

* Business plan, development;

* Finance partners;

* Site assistance through proprietary location software;

* Store design, layout and architecture;

* Approved equipment vendors;

* Marketing and grand opening plans;

* Five-year business pro forma; and

* On-going operations support.

Our franchisees are given educational and online tools that will walk them through every step of the process. Our Master Developer and corporate partner support is there to work with our franchisees to save time and money so they can begin serving our tasty Mondo Burritos in their community.

WHAT WE ARE ABOUT

Taco Del Mar is committed to the growth of our franchise system and is seeking franchisees ready to "Discover Their Inner Baja." We are a young and energetic, fast growing and responsible partner to our franchise community. If you would like more information, find us at tacodelmar.com.

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Company Name: Taco Del Mar

Contact: Neal Hollingsworth, Vice President, Franchising

Address: 604 Boren Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Phone: 206.624.7060

Fax: 206.624.7065

Email: nhollingsworth@tacodelmar.com

Website: www.tacodelmar.com

Years in Business: 15

Number of Current Units: 260+

Area of Operations: 45 States, Canada and Puerto Rico

Looking to Expand Into the following Regions: Nationwide, Canada, Australia

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