Ep 302 - From Hospitality to Household with Chelsea Ford: Bao Hoang on Building Roll’d from Melbourne to Millions

From a single Melbourne CBD store to 15 million rice paper rolls a year, this is the story of Roll’d.In the final episode of this incredible series, Chelsea Ford sits down with Bao Hoang, CEO of Roll’d, to unpack how a simple idea inspired by family recipes became one of Australia’s most recognisable quick-service food brands.Founded in 2012 with co-founders Ray and Tim, Roll’d set out to bring fresh, Vietnamese-inspired food into Australian shopping centres: fast, affordable, and built for modern lifestyles. On opening day, 30 people queued outside. They sold out in 45 minutes.What followed was rapid growth, national expansion, and the challenge of scaling a product that’s still made fresh in-store every single day.Bao shares the realities behind building Roll’d; from labour, training and SOPs, to maintaining consistency at scale (yes, including internal Rolling World Championships).The conversation also dives into Roll’d’s move into grocery during COVID, bringing Vietnamese pantry staples into homes through Coles, leveraging brand recognition while navigating entirely different margins, buyer expectations, and retail strategy.A conversation about instinct, data, scaling operations, and what it takes to evolve a hospitality brand beyond the counter.Guest info:rolld.com.au / @rolld_vietnameseHost info:foodpreneursfestival.com / @foodpreneursfestivalchelseaford.com / @chelsea.ford.coConnect with POH:principleofhospitality.com / @principle_of_hospitalityFor Brand Strategy, Design & Creative Support:principledesign.com.au / @principledesign