Taco Medic founders Ant Wilkins and Robbie McGillivray agree that the risks and benefits involved with opening three taquerias between 2020 and 2022 have been a rollercoaster ride but the Kiwi owned company is proud to have thrived during the midst of the pandemic.
Taco Medic has grown from nine to over 60 staff since the pandemic began. From Ant and Robbie managing and running the original taqueria and taco truck in Queenstown, to leading nine entities across New Zealand: Queenstown Head Office, two Taco Medic trucks, two taquerias in Queenstown, a Queenstown and Auckland Prep Kitchen, the Ponsonby taqueria, and the newest taqueria on Quay Street.
The Taco Medic team now have aspirations of expanding throughout New Zealand and across the ditch.
The pandemic forced the founders to slow down and required them to be flexible in their approach. When others saw risk, Ant and Robbie saw opportunity. It was always their intention to expand beyond Queenstown, where Taco Medic started, and the pair didn’t want to let anything get in the way of that goal. They credit maintaining a positive attitude and perspective in a time of adversity.
‘’While the pandemic may have slowed us down, it forced us to look at things from a different perspective and be more flexible in the way we do things. You have to be confident in what you are doing; we had analysed the business through the pandemic and backed ourselves. When there is risk there is also reward.
“When we opened Ponsonby, it couldn’t have been better timing, there were only sad stories of restaurants closing down and it was something exciting coming from the pandemic.
“So many came to support us, potentially too many, we had lines down the road for lunch and dinner service every day for ten weeks. Acquiring the Quay Street location was also an opportunity that came out of the pandemic which we believed would not be achievable or affordable outside of the pandemic.’’ Ant Wilkins says.
‘’We were mid fit out of our Frankton taqueria when the original lock down happened so we struggled like the rest of the hospitality industry.
“We didn’t want to let the pandemic completely ruin our plans as we were extremely passionate about the brand and committed to expansion having just gone through an extensive rebranding in the months prior to the pandemic hitting New Zealand.
“Lockdowns gave us the opportunity to work on the business without the operating distractions. We had a chance to analyse the business performance, extensive business mentoring, coaching and made tweaks at the new taqueria in Frankton, once it opened, until we had the confidence to do the next taqueria,’’ says Robbie McGillivray.
The pair say the pandemic was a good opportunity to do a deep dive into every aspect of the business to understand where they could improve. That gave them the confidence to push on with expansion once there was more clarity. Despite best laid plans, during the fit out of their Ponsonby taqueria Auckland went into lockdown. By the time they were allowed back into Auckland they were two weeks out from opening and the fit out was 90% complete.
While the company has seen growth in revenue, they say they are still seeing the ripple effect of the pandemic and are experiencing the same staffing struggles which other businesses are facing.
In early 2022, the strategy for Taco Medic to become a Living Wage employer was prioritised in order to attract and retain great talent. From nine employees prior to the pandemic to over 60, the Kiwi-owned company is going from strength to strength.
