Enrique Tomás's head is a hotbed of ideas and projects. The ham entrepreneur is constantly exploring new business opportunities and has found a new vein of growth in the vending sector, which he is determined to maximize and turn into a new strategic sales channel, just as he once did with the decision to become a reference operator in airports, where he already has about sixty catering establishments.
Precisely, it has been his experience in the Aena network that has allowed him to land with great success in the vending sector, as Enrique Tomás was awarded the contract at the beginning of the year to operate all food and beverage vending machines at El Prat Airport. The next step will be to take this model of "dispensing stores" ---as Tomás calls them--- to the Barcelona and Madrid metro stations, and he also aims for his ham sandwiches to be on board planes and buses, transport hubs, large companies, and in football stadiums. "We want to be the sandwich eaten at football matches!" he exclaims.
"In one year, my goal is to have a park of 20,000 GO!urmet dispensing stores," says Enrique Tomás, highly satisfied with the progress of the business at Barcelona Airport in the four and a half months he has been operating the service. Currently, of the 177 vending machines in the Josep Tarradellas Airport terminals, 30 already sell the brand's ham sandwiches from the Badalona-based company, but soon the network will increase to 40.
According to Enrique Tomás, the goal is to sell 3,000 ham sandwiches every day in these dispensing stores at El Prat and reach a turnover of 10 million euros per year, a figure that also includes the sale of drinks, chocolates, and snacks. Of this figure, 51%, that is, 5.1 million euros, will go to Aena by virtue of the agreed fee in the service tender contract. In total, according to this contract that allowed Enrique Tomás to prevail over the offers of other companies, Aena will collect 26 million euros during the five years of concession. The 10 million annual projected sales represent a 40% increase compared to the revenues obtained annually by the previous operator, of around seven million.
To participate in this tender, Enrique Tomás partnered with one of the leading companies in the sector, Alliance Vending, with which it has installed a total of 177 machines at the airport. The ham company supplies 30 of these machines with eleven types of sandwiches (between 4.80 and 9.80 euros) and ham packets, while in the rest Alliance Vending offers hot and cold drinks, chocolates, and all kinds of snacks.
Enrique Tomás's idea is to multiply the alliance with Alliance Vending and make this company its spearhead for growth in the vending business. The plan is to ensure that "one out of every four machines in the park operated by Alliance are Enrique Tomás sandwiches," the businessman explains, detailing how he plans to reach this network of 20,000 dispensing stores.
"Until now, vending machines offered an inadequate assortment, with sandwiches that did not generate a good shopping experience for customers. We are changing this paradigm: you can now buy a good ham sandwich in these machines, which I like to call dispensing stores. We want to accompany the customer wherever they are," he points out.
To ensure the success of the format, Enrique Tomás has created Tomasón, a sandwich he considers "infallible" and ideal for satisfying customers who opt for vending. It is a tasty soft brioche-type bread sandwich filled with ham shavings, shavings that are naturally obtained from the slicing process of the thousands of hams the company sells each year. "It's not minced ham, it's shavings of the best ham!" Tomás emphasizes, recalling that the Tomasón shavings are the same ones used by chef Nandu Jubany for the preparation of his prestigious ham croquettes.
The dispensing stores at Barcelona Airport sell three types of Tomasón ---reserve ham, Iberian, or acorn-fed Iberian--- and eight more types of sandwiches (there are also cheese, chorizo, and loin), with a total of eleven options, which are complemented by an assortment of vacuum-packed sliced ham packets, Enrique Tomás ham Frit Ravich potato chips, and freshly squeezed orange juices. The machines are restocked every four hours, and ham packets will be removed from the machine within a maximum of ten days if they have not been sold, although their shelf life is six months.
"The main ingredient of a sandwich is love; this project is the result of a lot of effort from the entire Enrique Tomás team. We are very happy because a few weeks after starting, we are already at break even, with an average ticket of six euros," highlights Tomás, who has made his son Albert his right-hand man in the business.
Enrique Tomás announces that soon his dispensing stores will also reach the Madrid Metro and Barcelona Metro networks. In Madrid, he has reached an agreement with the company that won the vending tender, IVS Group, to install some machines in the stations. In parallel, talks are underway with TMB to carry out a pilot test at the end of the year, which will involve the installation of 9 machines in the Barcelona Metro.
In parallel, hand in hand with Selecta, another vending operator, Enrique Tomás has already launched a machine selling his sandwiches at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. The company also wants to be present on board Alsa buses.
Double turnover in 2023
With a network of a hundred stores in Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Andorra, the United States (in the cities of Dallas, San Antonio, and Miami), Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and Peru ---a country where it has just opened its sixth establishment---, Enrique Tomás's forecasts are to reach a turnover of between 180 million and 220 million euros in 2023, the latter figure, if achieved, would mean doubling 2022 sales. In total, last year, "the Enrique Tomás system" registered a business volume of 107 million, a figure that includes sales from the brand's franchised establishments.
If only direct turnover is taken into account, 2022 revenues were 84 million, a record never before reached by the company and representing a 50% increase compared to 46 million in 2021. Gross operating profit was around seven million euros last year.
The businessman from Badalona will also give a new boost to his international growth in the coming months. After the recent opening of an iconic Enrique Tomas Experience establishment in Miami, the brand is preparing to arrive in Japan by the end of this year or early 2024, which will mark the beginning of the conquest of the Asian market.
Alliances with major brands
Along with vending and international expansion, another of the growth areas that currently focus Enrique Tomás' efforts are the cobranding agreements he is reaching with important companies that will allow him to multiply his brand's presence in homes. The collaboration with Frit Ravich is currently the most successful, but this winter Enrique Tomás plans to make another big splash thanks to the agreement he has reached with GBFoods for the launch of a Gallina Blanca broth made with Enrique Tomás ham. "That a company like GBFoods, belonging to the Carulla family and which is a market leader, has decided to bet on associating with the Enrique Tomás brand fills me with pride. We have made a wonderful broth," says the group's founder.
Another of the star associations will be with Torrons Vicens, with whom he is finalizing the elaboration of an Iberian ham nougat and, more specifically, an Iberian ham and almond praline with ham crunch and chocolate.
Finally, Enrique Tomás has also started collaborating with chefs Javier and Sergio Torres for the development of a new product and has partnered with Oracle to stay up-to-date on technology and data analysis.
"All the ideas I have, at first, may seem crazy; I am enthusiastic about the process of turning them into reality," says Enrique Tomás, satisfied, who in recent months has made multiple hires to provide the company with new talent and have the best team to execute all these growth plans.
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