Hitting the brakes for fancy salad
Food good for us can also taste good, as evidenced by SaladStop’s salads and wraps. Life is too short to be measured by tasteless carrot sticks and anemic lettuce, and as a noncook, I joined many Filipinos who welcomed the entry of SaladStop! into Manila some years back.
Even if the offerings cannot be labeled organic, sales associates assure me ingredients are sourced locally. Even if not quite farm-to-table, the creations are nutritious and satisfying, targeted for the Asian palate.
The food chain’s dozen branches in the Philippines are handled by Stores Specialists Inc., famous for partnering with upscale brands like Armani Exchange, Gap, Marks & Spencer, TWG, Zara—so it should come as no surprise that they command premium prices, making their offerings not easy to turn into a regular habit for the average Pinoy.
Asked if SaladStop! has a loyalty program, which its parent firm in Singapore has, a sales associate said, “we hope to have one.”
In 2009, Adrien Desbaillets, then 29, returned to Singapore after working in a hotel investment firm in China. He was following in the footsteps of his father, Daniel, who then just turned 60, a former head of Intercontinental Hotels Asia Pacific.
Born in Switzerland, the Desbaillets are permanent residents in Singapore. Like many expats, Adrien longed for delicious and filling salads that were prepared fresh and fast. He convinced his father to help him fill the niche.
Daniel mortgaged his apartment, risking his retirement money, but his faith in his son and an “open relationship, based on trust,” as Adrien tells The Straits Times in October 2017, paid off.
The first outlet opened in Marina Square, with expats accounting for 90 percent of customers. The company grew rapidly in prime locations in the central business district. In just one year, it broke even.
In 2016, SaladStop! raised SGD5 million from private equity firms in return for a minority stake, and has since expanded to Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain. Today, in Singapore, the customers are more than half local.
The son’s gung-ho attitude and the father’s extensive experience complement each other. Unlike most family businesses that involve more than one generation, the elder never pulled rank over the younger.
At the start, they “stepped on each other’s toes” over responsibilities.
Straits Times describes a situation: “Adrien saw himself as a typical millennial, closer in personality to their typical [business] customer and took the lead on the menu. His father, [with] his operational expertise and contacts … made sure the expenses and cash flows were structured … to drive growth. If a menu item was not selling, his father would recommend cutting it sooner than Adrien would.”
Unlike many senior founders who cannot cede control of their brainchild, Daniel has chosen to let the next generation take the helm. As director and chair, he is in charge of finances, while Adrien, as president, manages operations. Adrien’s sister Katherine, two years younger, oversees marketing, and her husband Frantz Braha takes care of overseas franchises.
In family businesses, the mother often takes a back seat, but Adrien’s mother, Eleonore, is integral. Having raised the family on nonprocessed wholesome food, Eleonore serves as CIO or chief inspiration officer.
“I wish all family businesses could be like ours,” Daniel tells Straits Times.
