Operations
Clear Eatz is a franchise co-founded by Don and Evonne Varady that solves the time vs. well being dilemma by providing handy, macro-balanced meals, from dine-in cafes to nationwide frozen supply, whereas sustaining a powerful mission-first, community-driven tradition centered on “remodeling lives via meals.”
Picture: Willie Lawless/ Networld Media Group
November 17, 2025 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
The hunt for a nutritious, macro-balanced meal typically ends in the identical acquainted dilemma: Time versus well being.
For a lot of, the trials of meal planning, grocery buying and cooking clear meals are merely an excessive amount of for a busy schedule.
Enter Clear Eatz, the franchise that has cracked the code on handy wellness, providing all the pieces from dine-in wholesome cafes to nationwide frozen meal supply, proving that you do not have to sacrifice your weight-reduction plan objectives for a scarcity of hours within the day. That is the story of how one firm is altering the “warmth and eat” narrative, remodeling clear consuming from a tedious chore into an accessible, five-star expertise for everybody from aggressive athletes to busy households.
Clear Eatz was co-founded by Don and Evonne Varady, who launched the corporate in 2013. The Varadys stay concerned in its management, whereas Eric Wyatt was appointed the primary CEO in October 2024 to give attention to strategic enlargement.
Meet the Varadys
The Varadys will communicate on the Founderology Development Summit at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026 in a session known as “Meals, Health and Franchise: A Mission-First Strategy to Enterprise Constructing.” The Summit is billed as a Founder to Founder expertise constructed completely for multi-unit restaurant Founders able to scale smarter and sooner.
We talked to Don and Evonne Varady in e-mail interviews to study extra about their enterprise and the way they’re main the way in which.
Q: As a visionary Founder, how did you translate the preliminary concept of remodeling lives via meals into the precise menu and product technique? What was the most important problem in growing a meals idea that’s each wholesome and scalable throughout a nationwide franchise mannequin?
Evonne Varady: Clear Eatz started as a small meal prep service constructed round one mission: remodeling lives via meals. We needed to make wholesome consuming easy and accessible for on a regular basis individuals — not bodybuilders or dieters, however actual households and busy professionals. As demand grew, we expanded the idea into further café areas and added a broader menu that made wholesome decisions simple whether or not clients needed to seize a meal, meal prep for the week, or eat on the go.
The toughest half was scaling that philosophy nationwide with out dropping the private contact that made it work. We needed to design recipes that balanced vitamin, taste, and consistency — after which construct a provide chain and franchise mannequin that would ship that very same expertise in each metropolis. The purpose was all the time to remain true to our roots: actual meals, actual individuals, actual outcomes.
Q:You have scaled from a single café to a nationwide franchise. How do you make sure the core mission of “remodeling lives via meals and health” stays constant and impactful throughout each new franchise location, particularly as you deliver on various house owners?
Don Varady: We observe what we preach, and we’ve got an awesome help workforce right here at our company workplace that works onerous on daily basis with our house owners.
Q: You have constructed a mission-driven model. What are the non-negotiable qualities or values you search for in a possible franchisee to make sure they’re totally dedicated to the model’s mission of well being and health, not simply monetary success?
Evonne Varady:At Clear Eatz, we search for franchisees who stay and breathe the approach to life — individuals who imagine meals can change lives and wish to be part of that transformation. One of the best house owners have a service mindset, not an investor mindset. They’re coachable, community-driven, and prepared to get their arms soiled within the kitchen if that is what it takes to assist a buyer.
Integrity, consistency, and coronary heart are non-negotiable. We would like companions who care concerning the particular person strolling via the door making an attempt to make a change — who have fun their wins and help them once they stumble. Monetary success comes if you lead with goal, however the ones who make it long-term on this model are those who lead with affect first.
Q: When a company grows quickly, the unique firm tradition could be simply diluted. What lively steps have you ever taken to take care of the sense of goal and group that existed within the very first café as you expanded to a nationwide footprint?
Evonne Varady: From day one, we constructed Clear Eatz round a sense — group, goal, and belonging. It was by no means nearly promoting meals; it was about giving individuals a spot to start out altering their lives. As we grew, I made it a precedence to guard that power by staying related to our franchisees and clients. Every bit of our model — from the café design, to the merch all of us sport, to the tone of our messaging — is supposed to remind individuals why we began.
We have saved that tradition alive by internet hosting nationwide conventions, management trainings, and group occasions that really feel extra like household gatherings than company conferences. We have fun the actual tales behind the model — the purchasers who misplaced 100 kilos, the dad and mom educating their youngsters about wholesome consuming, the franchisees who discovered their goal. That is what retains us grounded. The aim that existed in our first café nonetheless drives each determination we make at this time.
Q:How did Clear Eatz transfer past simply being a spot that sells meals to turning into a real group hub, and what sensible recommendation do you will have for different founders seeking to construct a loyal, mission-driven group round their model?
Don Varady:We now have our franchise companions to thank for that. They’re those that purchased into our imaginative and prescient and our tradition and it resonates all through our model. My recommendation to different house owners is to ALWAYS be genuine. Do not attempt to be one thing you aren’t. Clients and company will see proper via that. You’ll by no means please or fulfill everybody, so keep on with your core clients and all the time be genuine and do the suitable factor.
Q:Each enterprise faces vital moments. Are you able to share a second the place a troublesome determination or vital problem was confronted, and the way your distinctive partnership with Don was instrumental in navigating that impediment and making certain the enterprise stayed on monitor?
Evonne Varady: There have been loads of robust moments, however one of many hardest was after we needed to determine how one can scale Clear Eatz with out dropping the soul of what made it particular. Development sounds thrilling till you understand it might break all the pieces if you happen to transfer too quick or for the improper causes. I am the visionary — I transfer with coronary heart and intuition — and Don is the regular hand that brings construction and self-discipline. After I needed to dash, he made positive we had sneakers on first.
Collectively, we discovered a rhythm that saved us from burning out or promoting out. We divided roles — I protected the mission and model voice, and he constructed the methods and numbers that made it scalable. That stability received us via each main determination, from franchising to product launches. It isn’t all the time simple being married to what you are promoting companion, nevertheless it’s the rationale Clear Eatz continues to be rising with goal as an alternative of simply rising for development’s sake.
Q: Your session mentions the facility of partnership with Evonne. What particular roles did you every take within the early days, and the way has the dynamic of your partnership advanced because the enterprise has grown nationally?
Don Varady: Evonne and I’ve designated “lanes” since day one. She has all the time been in control of menu growth and product growth. I’ve all the time run operations, authorized, and finance. We now have saved it that means since day one and it is all the time labored properly for us. Evonne and I’ve actually good communication, and we talk about vital enterprise selections collectively earlier than they get made. Lots of people have tried to duplicate what we do and failed. We make it look simple and it’s completely not. We simply all the time be certain to speak.
Q: What’s one thing you would like you knew earlier than beginning your individual enterprise?
Evonne Varady: I want I knew that success would not really feel such as you assume it’s going to. You hit the objectives, open the areas, win the awards — and nonetheless understand happiness would not come from the milestones, it comes from the moments in between. I spent years chasing development earlier than studying that peace, goal, and folks matter greater than numbers. If I may inform my youthful self one factor, it could be: do not rush the climb. Benefit from the course of, as a result of that is the place the actual transformation occurs.
Q: What is the one lesson you realized beginning your individual firm that will shock different Founders?
Don Varady: We did not know what the hell we have been doing. One factor I see on a regular basis is individuals holding again from beginning a enterprise as a result of they do not know each little facet or each little element. They’re too scared to go discover somebody that does to assist get began as a result of they do not wish to look silly. And generally it holds them again from executing on a enterprise concept that’s actually, actually good.
Q: If you happen to may give at this time’s founders one piece of recommendation on how one can successfully scale affect with out compromising the authenticity or values of their authentic idea, what would that be?
Don Varady: I feel you form of answered it throughout the query. Constantly showcasing authenticity and your core values will scale the affect you make. Do not get hung up on making an attempt to please the lots. For instance, we’ve got by no means had a powerful vegan, vegetarian buyer base. We now have choices for them, in fact, however we all know that they don’t seem to be our core buyer and that is okay. We do not spend plenty of effort and time making an attempt to be one thing we’re not and cater to a really small share of the shopper base. As an alternative, we give attention to portion management and being a “higher for you” choice. We do not use stylish advertising and marketing hooks to be misleading like plenty of the meals trade does.
Registration is now accessible for the Founderology Development Summit. Click on HERE for extra data.
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the positioning editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has greater than 20 years’ expertise masking meals, individuals and locations.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings greater than 20 years’ expertise to Networld Media Group. She has spent practically twenty years masking the pizza trade, from unbiased pizzerias to multi-unit chains and each dimension enterprise in between. Mandy has been featured on the Meals Community and has gained quite a few awards for her protection of the restaurant trade. She has an insatiable urge for food for studying, and might let you know the place to seek out one of the best slices within the nation after spending 15 years touring and consuming pizza for a dwelling.
