Mexican food franchise, Zambrero, has opened the doors to its 100th restaurant this week with plans for further expansion across Australia and New Zealand.

“I’m excited to reach 100 restaurants,” said founder Dr Sam Prince. “It’s somewhat surreal to know that in 2005 I started this business as a medical student and now we have achieved a monumental feat in Australian retailing history.”

The Midland, Perth restaurant will be followed by Rockingham in Western Australia, with new openings to come in Queensland, NSW and ACT. In addition to the Australian openings, two restaurants will open in New Zealand, where Zambrero launched in late 2014.

A Tasmanian restaurant, expected to open in January at Hobart, will see the franchise establish its footprint in each state.

“We attribute this continual success to our innovative healthy Mexican cuisine, amazing brand culture and strong franchisee partnerships, which complement Zambrero’s philosophy of serving good food that does good,” said CEO, Karim Messih.

Zambrero was founded by Dr Prince in 2005 as a humanitarian enterprise. At the heart of its business model is the Plate 4 Plate charity initiative, which means for every burrito or bowl sold, Zambrero donates one meal to someone in need around the world. Over seven million meals have been donated to date with distribution managed by Stop Hunger Now overseas and within Australia by food relief agency Foodbank.

“We’re not just a healthy quick service restaurant, we’re a socially-conscious franchise committed to tackling world hunger and we’re experiencing increasing demand from prospective franchise partners empathetic to our Mexican with a mission philosophy,” said Messih.

Want more Inside Retail? Subscribe to Inside Retail Weekly now and get our premium print publication delivered to your door every week.