Colin Lear (SCC1966)
From humble beginnings with a single lunch van in 1979 to leading a thriving national operation, the story of Tasty Fresh is one of resilience, innovation and teamwork. In this interview, we sit down with Salesian College Chadstone alumnus Colin Lear (SCC 1966) to reflect on his journey, from his early days at the College to building a family business that now serves communities across Australia. Colin shares pivotal moments, lessons learned and advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Reflecting on your time at Salesian College, what aspects of your education or experiences there have had a lasting impact on your personal and professional development?
Understanding the importance and power of the Team value.
Your career began in land surveying before transitioning into the food industry. What inspired this significant change, and how did your background influence your approach to business?
I always wanted to find something that I could work hard and create an impact for myself and was originally looking for a rundown sandwich bar when I came across the second-hand lunch van and thought it was something unique that had great potential.
Starting with a single van in 1979, you have grown Tasty Fresh into a national operation. What were some pivotal moments or decisions that contributed to this growth?
For the first few years I was a micromanager and felt I always needed to make key decisions because I knew best. Consequently, I did not have a break from the business until 1993 when I had an opportunity to go to the UK for 6 weeks and realised, I needed to start delegating areas of responsibility to the Team. On returning home after worrying what state the business would be in, I found it was working better than ever so from that time in I decided to effectively make myself redundant by giving Team members clear responsibilities, offering my advice on any challenges in their role but supporting their ultimate decision whether successful or not. That experience and resulting decision was instrumental in the business growing to the scale that it is today.
Innovation has been a hallmark of Tasty Fresh, from custom designed vans to proprietary software. How do you foster a culture of innovation within your company?
Continuous Improvement is one of our core values and our Team is responsible to constantly try new ideas even though most will ultimately be unsuccessful. If we have one success from trying many new ideas, then we will continue to grow and maintain our position as the best mobile lunch van in the world. The more mistakes we make the more successful we become because we are constantly finding what works and what does not.
Family involvement is evident in Tasty Fresh’s operations. How has integrating family into the business influenced its culture and success?
Along with our daughter, son and daughter-in-law we treat all 610 Tasty Fresh Team members as family by creating an all-inclusive family atmosphere. Every Team member is highly valued and respected from the young teenager who works part time after school through to the National Management Team which is made up of mostly those same young people who have risen through the ranks over many years in the business.
Maintaining food safety and quality is crucial in your industry. What measures does Tasty Fresh implement to ensure these standards are consistently met?
We operate under HACCP (Hazard, Analysis and Critical Control Points) standards which is a globally recognised standard used to ensure food safety from farm to table.
The lunch truck concept was relatively novel when you started. How did you educate the market and build trust with customers in those early days?
From day 1 we have operated under strict principles of
1. Fresh Daily
2. Food in quantity
3. Great Service
4. Value for Money
Tasty Fresh has expanded across multiple states. What challenges did you face during this expansion, and how did you adapt your business model to different markets?
We have expanded the business interstate by acquiring existing lunch van businesses in each state which has given us a starting customer base to which we have rolled out our superior service, systems and vans which has seen an immediate acceleration in sales and growth. This created the challenge of modifying the entrenched employee culture which in the initial acquisitions took many years to overcome. We have also put an enormous emphasis on creating best practice systems that can be managed remotely.
What advice would you offer to current Salesian students who aspire to start their own businesses?
Become a ferocious reader of business books which tell the story of people who have become successful in business. Also, I highly recommend the Jim Collins series of books, Good to Great, Built to Last etc. which analyse business success from an academic point of view.
The main key is to find something that you are passionate about and put together a Team who will work with you to be the best in class in the world. Get it right and the financial rewards will follow.
