The Zambrero story starts with its Founder, Dr. Sam Prince, one of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Sam started Zambrero in 2005 as a 21-year-old medical student with just $16,000 savings. The brand now has over 350+ restaurants globally, and its Plate 4 Plate initiative has generated more than 100 million meals for people in need.
The genesis of his idea to start Zambrero came about while he was working part-time at a Mexican restaurant to pay the bills while still a medical student. Sam describes the inception of the brand, “There’s a quote by Steven Spielberg, who said that ‘intuition whispers in your ear it rarely yells.’ And indeed, in my life, intuition was whispering in my ear that Mexican food was just not done well for a long period of time in Australia. And at some point, it started to yell.”
Zambrero saw rapid growth from inception, from 20 restaurants in 2012 to over 100 restaurants in 2015 the brand quickly cemented its position as one of Australia’s fastest growing businesses with a presence on the BRW Fast 100 list four times consecutively and now thrives in over 350 restaurants globally across Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland and the USA. This rapid growth was not always easy though, Sam applied passion, determination, and sheer resilience during Zambrero’s foundational years. In 2015, with the business primed for its next cycle of growth, doubts emerged over the strategy and there was a fork in the road. Sam made the difficult decision to buy back the small amount of equity he had gifted to some former employees to regain 100% control and ownership. Today in the overall context of Zambrero the event is insignificant, however at the time Sam needed the conviction to endure personal financial hardship for the longer-term vision to drive Zambrero to where it is today.
In 2025, Daryl McCormack was appointed Chief Executive Officer for Zambrero across Australia, New Zealand and North America. He leads the brand’s next phase of growth with a focus on operational excellence, strong franchise partnerships and ending world hunger through Zambrero’s Plate 4 Plate initiative. He has been part of Zambrero for more than ten years, first as a Multi-Unit Franchise Partner and Development Agent, helping grow the Victorian network from a single restaurant to a high-performing multi-unit restaurant group. Daryl brings deep experience in building and scaling franchise networks across Australia, New Zealand and North America. A Chartered Accountant with three decades in CEO and CFO roles, he has led major consumer brands through growth, transformation and complex market change.
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