Luke Baylis, Chief Executive Officer of Sumo Salad
On his passion for food, chaging Australian's eating habits and having faith in your team.
QSR Media: What makes you excited about your position?
Luke Baylis: My passion for food drives everything I do, I love what we do and what we stand for – healthy, nutritious and tasty food. The creativity and diversity that comes with the role means I am doing something different every day, from experimenting with new salads to designing new concepts. There is a sense of achievement every day. To top it off, I love the people in my team; they make it all the more enjoyable.
QSR Media: What 3 goals are you focused on?
Baylis: 1. Being the world’s most successful healthy fast food chain.
2. Making sure all stakeholders within the business receive great financial benefit.
3. Creating a strong base of loyal customers who have a passion for healthy food.
QSR Media: What long-term changes are you planning on?
Baylis: We have two long-term changes that we are focused on; the first is to change Australian’s eating habits for the better. We want to educate consumers to have a holistic approach to healthy food and consider how food is sourced, produced and sold in stores – we call this Food with Purpose. Our second is to change the way we gather data, I believe this is the way forward and by focusing on how to better capture data from both loyal and potential customers, we are then able to continually evolve and adapt to their changing wants and needs.
QSR Media: What are your key business philosophies?
Baylis: One of my key philosophies is to always believe in the people of the business. It is important to have faith in your team, foster their growth and always hire for the future. If your business is filled with talented people whom you trust, there is little room for failure. In saying that, we shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes, as they are inevitable in business. However, rather than dwell on those moments, I like to use them as ammunition to learn and grow. Mistakes force you to re-evaluate, which often leads to better and stronger ideas!
QSR Media: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?
Baylis: Nothing prepares you more than the school of hard knocks! I have learnt numerous lessons from life experiences, which has driven my passion for success and given me the strength to always push for more. Also having co-founded SumoSalad, I have been the jack-of-all-trades and worked in all areas throughout the business, which allows me to make decisions looking at the business holistically.
