Taco Del Mar planning major growth in Canada

Taco Del Mar: Coming to a province near you.

The fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain has joined with British Columbia-based TDM Federal Holdings to develop as many as 300 franchises across Canada over the next four years.

Taco Del Mar, which sells custom-made, 24-ounce burritos and fish tacos, has expanded rapidly in the past year — from 111 restaurants to 182 — by favoring the Subway-esque "master developer" model over individual franchises.

Whereas franchisees buy the right to own and operate an individual restaurant, master developers purchase the right to develop a whole geographic area.

Subway and other restaurant chains favor the model because it reduces overhead. Master developers both identify franchisees and provide operational support for stores in their territories.

In 2004, the last year for which financial statements were available, Taco Del Mar posted $34 million in revenue.

Taco Del Mar President David Huether, hired last year to help expand the company, said it splits with master developers both the initial fees and the royalties, which are 6 percent of a store's sales.

"Both of us know that we're only as successful as our franchisees are successful," he said.

TDM Federal, headed by master developers Darryl Chandra, Jas Shergill and Michael Anthony, plans to open Taco Del Mar restaurants in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario this year. It forecasts nearly 600 franchises in Canada by 2014.

The same master developers already operate 22 Taco Del Mar restaurants under the name TDM Pacific Holdings.

Taco Del Mar opened its first location on Pier 57 on Seattle's waterfront in June 1992. Brothers James and John Schmidt sold fish tacos and burritos modeled after the food served in shoreline shacks dotting the beaches in Southern California and Baja.

The company plans to double in size this year by opening 180 restaurants in the United States and Canada.

Monica Soto Ouchi: 206-515-5632 or msoto@seattletimes.com