Interview with Sanjay Roy, Founder of The Fruit and Veg Man
Sanjay Roy is the founder of The Fruit and Veg Man, the only fruit and veg franchise in the UK. Before starting The Fruit and Veg Man, Sanjay enjoyed a career in fitness. It was during lockdown that Sanjay, like many others, found himself being furloughed. Sajay decided to spend his time productively, helping others to have access to nutritious, top-notch fruits and vegetables, while also raising funds for his local hospice. Thus, The Fruit and Veg Man was born. Demand for the business grew quickly, and in 2022, Sanjay started the process of franchising his business. The Fruit and Veg Man now has 4 franchisees with plans to develop across the UK.
Tell us a bit about yourself Before creating The Fruit and Veg Man, I was a Personal Trainer, Squash Coach and ran my own online fitness company.
Can you tell us about the business The Fruit and Veg Man offers the highest quality of service in everything we do, which is provide the best quality Fruit and Vegetables at the fairest price whilst giving back to the local community and raising money for local causes.
We have four areas of expertise which are as follows:
- Supplying fruit and vegetables to business customers
- Supplying fruit to offices
- Supplying boxes of fruit and vegetables to the public
- Offering fruit and vegetables at market stalls.
We decided to franchise in 2023 when we could see the incredible success of our pilot franchisee in numbers. Our pilot franchisee had previously worked in a corporate environment, so to see him succeed in this financially and earn more than he did in his corporate role made me realise that this was a great business to franchise.
We were also inundated with requests to provide fruit and vegetables to many customers nationwide, so we knew demand for our brand and services was there.
We also secured a number of multi-million pound commercial contracts which means any franchisee joining us would have a great chance of starting with big, corporate clients from the start of their franchise.
We now have 4 franchisees, all who have made their franchise fee of £10,995 back within the first 3 months and are thriving. We have also taken on the view that we will only take on 2 franchisees every year so I can work closely with our franchisees to ensure that they meet their financial and customer goals as soon as possible.
Who is your target market Our target market is anyone that wants to eat good quality, wholesome fruit and vegetables! We have a crazy demand for our services and actually have turned down many customers because we don’t have enough franchisees!
Why is your franchise a great investment for potential franchisees?
- We have multi-million pound national contracts that will help you get your franchise off with a bang
- Part of a small network of franchisees who all support each other
- Part of a brand that has won multiple awards including from Theo Paphitis from Dragons Den
- We only pick franchisees that align with our values of excellent customer service. We have turned away hundreds of applications, which means our franchise network only have franchisee that are the best!
- We believe the hand on help you get to make your business a huge success is second to non
- Our track record – Every single franchisee that has joined us has made money from day one and all our franchisees have made their franchise fee back within 3 months of joining
- We give back to the local community and have raised thousands of pounds for local causes
- You have ability to tailor your business in line with your life
- It’s insanely fun! This franchise is above all, a lot of FUN and you get to meet some of the most amazing people and they in turn become people you will know for life!
- The franchise is available for £10,995 which goes back into setting the franchisee with all the equipment and tools needed to start the franchise (save for the van, which we will help source) and government start up loans are available.
What differentiates your franchise from the competition? We have no competition! We are the only fruit and veg franchise that is available in the UK which allows us to continuously strive to improve. We are creating something very special and you will be a part of something that has never been done before, but now has all the tools in place for you to be a successful business owner!
What is the role of one of your franchisees? All our franchisees align with our values of high end customer service and the ability to just be a nice person! It sounds very simple (and it should be) but one of the main reasons we are so successful is because we adhere to this without fail.
What qualities do you look for in a franchisee? What makes a successful franchisee? The biggest quality a franchisee must have is the ability to follow The Fruit and Veg Man process. They must also:
- have the ability to get on with people from all walks of life.
- be ok with early mornings
- always put the customer at the heart of what we do.
- have a clear understanding that this is a business, not a job!
- a proficient standard of English
What has made our franchisees successful is their ability to work with the franchisor and making sure that they are not afraid of speaking with current and prospective customers. The Fruit and Veg Man will give the Franchisee all the training and support they will need but the franchisee must ensure that they follow the tried and tested process withing the operations manual and training!
This is one of the easiest franchises anyone could invest in, however as is the case with any franchise, failure to adhere to the process will result in failure!
What other challenges have you had to overcome and adapt to over the years in your franchise and the industry in general? Part of the reason we are so successful is because none of us within the franchise network have a background in the fruit and veg industry, which is extremely antiquated and there is a distinct lack of professionalism within the industry. We have come in with an outlook as fresh as our produce and have decided to make the customer the focus and not the money in your pocket. This mindset has really helped our business flourish because it goes without saying, if you look after your customer – they will look after your pocket!
What have been the company’s biggest achievements and successes to date so far? Our biggest achievement is securing a number of national contracts that will use us as their preferential supplier which has kick started all our franchisees in their businesses. Equal to this is that all our franchisees have recouped their franchise fee within 3 months of starting with us.
What does the future hold for the business? What are your growth targets? We aim to increase in size by only 2 franchisees per year. We receive on average 500 applications per year which shows how popular we are as a franchise. We are also fully invested in the awarding a franchise to the right person for our brand and therefore we spend a lot of time ensuring our franchisees have everything they need to be successful!
What expansion plans have you got nationally and internationally? 2 Franchisees for 2024. Eventual growth to cover the entire UK.
What advice would you give to someone considering franchising their business? Get help! Don’t try and do everything yourself. Franchising your business means you are starting a new business from scratch and with that in mind it is always important to get advice from experts in the process of franchising.
We used Ashton’s Consulting who have helped us in every step of our journey and who we would recommend.
If you had to do it all again, what would you do differently? Have more filter checks in those that apply for our franchise. We were inundated with applications last year and want to create more filters to make sure anyone that ends up applying knows exactly what our franchise opportunity offers.
Interested and want to know more about The Fruit and Veg Man ?
The The Fruit and Veg Man profile outlines all aspects of their franchise opportunity and allows you to contact them for further information or to ask a question.
