Legend has it that mustard’s idea began to germinate in a gastronomic place in Lanús. Christian Galdeano Alvarado is attributed the hamburger recipe, the inspiration in McDonald’s its main competitor that leads with 52% of the market and the idea of leverage in franchises to obtain capital and grow.
Christian started with his partner Federico Pablo Aste, but Today is his only shareholder and CEO.
Being very young Galdeano tried luck with grills, pizzerias, until you are interested in hamburgers. And so Mustaza was born that opened in Adrogué, then in the Shopping Alto Avellaneda and also in Sarandí. His eureka moment coincided with the time of the country.
“At the end of the 90 McDonald’s was not so developed, the shopping malls were booming and needed new proposals. Beyond capacity, The planets were aligned”, Recognizes Pablo de Marco, mustard expansion director Clarion.
For Mostza, McDonald’s was always a reference. Of course, they ensure that theirs were not always succeeded. But in what are painful learning, it can be considered that with 27 years of life they have already crossed the Valley of Death, since in 1998 they opened the first place in Adrogué.
By the way, the Hamburger recipe is still even more secret than the Coca Cola formula. Much of the expansion was achieved during the 2001 crisis, when Mustaza took the opportunity to occupy locations left by the big players Before the fall in demand.
It is a course loaded with adrenaline. The location of the premises, often in the most emblematic corners of the cities, is one of their maxims. The other, reach the places where The competition did not land. This is the case of its opening in Formosa or Oran, Salta.
The strategy is aggressive. Thus, they hire stars to position themselves. The most iconic is that of Dab Martínez, Mustaza Ambassador, who multiplied public and profits. They invest a lot of money. Others remembered promotions were with Marcelo Tinelli, Santiago del Moro, Roberto Pettinato, Marley Wanda Nara or the Minions.
“The investment is constant, we have to keep in force in every way. Beyond the premises, which are cute, well located, modern, people have to see us on social networks, and there must be a character that is nice and caller. We do everything to see usthat people identify us with the item. That you want to eat a hamburger and that the first thing that comes to mind is must be, ”explains Marco when commenting that the budget is around US $ 30 million per year for inaugurations and remodeling.
Reliability in your products is key. And permanent evolution, another engine. That is a lot They open at 7, to take advantage of the breakfast reef, and close at 24.
In recent times one of those franchises began a trial with the first instance failure that Mostza appealed. Accuses them of breach. “It is one in 150,” Marco is chatted. Will there be more?
Today 197 premises account for and this year will open another 25. Each place uses about 50 people and invoices some US $ 200,000 per month. Thus, mustard adds 11,000 people and has income from US $ 480 million a year. “With more than 50 million customers per year, 1 million users in our app and 500,000 orders per month through the Delivery Canal, we are the second chain of the industry,” they say.
Half of the premises are operated by mustard and the rest by the franchisees. “We are not a company in which the main business is the granting of franchises. Our business is the sale of hamburgers. The franchise system serves us because it gives us speed. And it helps us to reach more distant places, such as the ones we open in Posadas, Ushuaia, which is very complex to arrive, because we must export and import to dispatch the merchandise. The franchise gives that flexibility. We have coverage throughout the country. ” The locals are rented.
The franchisee invests in the business in exchange for operating the brand and having some profitability. “The business is both. We won because we have more volume, we charge a gift for the use of the brand and the know-how and everything we transmit, and the investor has an income according to their investment, ”they expand.
As for the franchise, They start at US $ 500,000 and there are also one million. The investment recovery is From the third year. His last badge, which operates the mustard itself, is located on Route 2, attached to the YPF, just in the middle of the route to Mar del Plata or the rest of the coast.
In Mustaza they do not release information about who their suppliers are. It is known that they have a contract of Exclusivity with Coca Cola. For a millimeter precision task, they chose the logistics company Axionlog, Mexican capitals which receives the suppliers and the orders of each place. He prepares them and gives them coverage throughout the country.
In 2024 sales are They collapsed 20%but the taba turned the last December that was much better than the 2023. This hot summer, with a powerful air conditioning that helps open the appetite.