Australia

Steve Pagett, a 25-year veteran in the quick service restaurant industry, will ensure Healthy Habits’ strategic development plans are maximised and targets are met. Steve will assist in rolling out new stores on the east coast of Australia, managing operations consultants and assisting franchise partners with business development. According to a company release, Healthy Habits’ new General Manager of Operations has worked with KFC, Burger King and McDonalds. He commenced with KFC in the 1980’s spending fifteen years with the brand in various roles including Regional Manager. Another fifteen years spent with Yum Restaurants has given Steve hands-on experience with a number of roles from Opening Store Manager to Human Resource Manger where he specialised in the recruiting and training of both company and franchise operations. For the last eight years of his career in Yum Steve was awarded Senior Regional Manager of the year for the South Pacific region where his greatest achievement was turning the worst performing region into the best performing region globally. During his three years with Burger King he was responsible for thirty-seven new store openings. During that time Steve and his team improved every KPI, from customer service, top line sales flowing through to bottom line net profit. Steve’s most recent position prior to joining the Healthy Habits family was Director of Operations for Chili’s Restaurants, working directly with the owner and associated share holders to improve the position and performance of the Chili brand. Healthy Habits was founded by Katherine Sampson who launched her first sandwich bar concept in 1999 when she saw that food court visitors were looking for a healthier option. Healthy Habits has grown from four stores in Victoria to over 34 stores across Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT. They are now one of Australia’s most awarded franchise systems and the number one Sandwich Bar brand in the market.