Triple O’s, a division of White Spot Hospitality, is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is looking to expand further in Canada.
Triple O’s is a full-service restaurant, and currently has 76 locations. Most of Triple O’s locations are in British Columbia where it started in 1997 and has since expanded to include other Canadian provinces such as four locations in Alberta, four locations in Ontario, and three international locations in Asia. Triple O’s has six new locations under construction right now, three of which will be in Ontario, with more expansion plans for the future.
Triple O’s parent company, White Spot is one of Canada’s oldest restaurant chains and will be celebrating its 95th anniversary. White Spot first opened in Vancouver in 1928. Triple O’s was inspired by bringing the best of White Spot (burgers, fries, and shakes) and delivering those in a quick service environment.
“In 1997 we created Triple O’s, our first location, and it has been a great success and we have been really pleased with how things are going. We have opened up in Ontario and just opened our fourth location. When we looked at bringing the brand to the people, finding areas where we can grow Triple O’s with a limited menu that would work. We thought with White Spot quality in a quick service environment we would have a formula for success – and it worked out that way,” says Warren Erhart, the President of Triple O’s.
Triple O’s recently opened its fourth location in Vaughn, Ontario in the middle of September located at Rutherford Road at Ultramar. The other three locations in Ontario include Colborne, Mississauga, and Woodbridge.
“Formula for Success”
The Triple O’s product menu varies from burgers (with options of beef, chicken, plant based, vegetarian, and fish), milkshakes, breakfast items, and fries – all made with local ingredients which is an important aspect for White Spot and Triple O’s.
“It has been very successful where we got all the aspects of our white spot brand, which is fresh, made for you, 100 percent fresh Canadian beef, fresh Kennebec fries, our hand scooped milkshakes, and everything White Spot does. “We are proud of the importance we take to sourcing raw materials and making sure it is the highest quality with our recipes, and it all comes together.”
Triple O’s stays local, so for its Ontario locations, it uses Ontario produce for recipes and its unique flavour will stay consistent throughout provinces.
“Being local is very important to us. We have local buns that are baked in Ontario, the beef is produced in Ontario. In British Columbia, we use BC products, so it is really making sure we can replicate the flavour profile so Triple O’s burger in Ontario tastes the same as BC by using local ingredients.”
Giving Back to the Community
Triple O’s celebrated its 25th anniversary by serving customers the original burger for the original price of $3.49. On top of the lower price, Triple O’s donated 50 cents from every burger sold to the local food banks. Erhart said during the pandemic, users of food banks went up twenty percent and a large amount of that percentage is children and seniors. Triple O’s and White Spot always tries to “do their best of giving back to charities.”
Charities Triple O’s are involved with include Kidsport BC and Toy Mountain.
Using its food trucks, Erhart said Triple O’s gave away thousands of burgers to various hospitals and first responders during the pandemic as a way to give back and to say thank you to the healthcare workers during Covid. Erhart said this wasn’t the first time Triple O’s has given away a truck to support the community as Triple O’s often gives away its food trucks for charities.
“We are proud to be working for the business we have. A lot of companies could and don’t, and I am really proud our companies can, and so we are always looking for ways of supporting children and families, and a lot of the charities we support with White Spot and Triple O’s are really based on children.”
Food trucks are not only used for catering charities but can also be rented out for private social events. For people who are looking for catering for their events, such as weddings or birthdays, they can book a food truck from Triple O’s for a certain amount of time during the event.
International Locations
Along with Triple O’s Canadian locations, it also has three locations in Hong Kong.
“A lot of people from Hong Kong went to school in Vancouver, got their university degrees, and went back to Hong Kong, so a lot of people knew our brand.”
“We had a family, Suen Family, apply for the franchise rights for Hong Kong and they opened the first restaurant there, almost about twenty years ago now, so they are very successful in Hong Kong.”
As for expanding more internationally, Erhard said it is looking for more locations internationally and that they have spoken to people about finding new sites to expand to.
Future Plans
Currently Triple O’s is going to be expanding in three areas in Ontario: Niagara region, London, and Hamilton.
The Niagara location is set to open early 2023 and Triple O’s is looking to have 30 new locations open over the next four to five years and are pursuing locations in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario – including a possible location downtown Toronto in the future.
“People have come to us where they have seen our Triple O’s in Ontario and sort of applied and knocked on our doors. We also have a group from Ontario that is finding sites for us as well and a bit of our strategy is looking at some downtown locations while also the suburbs. We are really excited about the opportunity to grow after 25 years, grow the brand as we think there are opportunities to bring in more locations throughout Canada.”
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