FISHBOWL

FISHBOWL THISBOWL is on a mission to change the global fast-food culture. In 2016, uni mates Nic Pestalozzi, Nathan Dalah, and Casper Ettelson spotted a gap in the market for healthy, accessible, satisfying fast food and opened their first FISHBOWL restaurant in Bondi Beach. Now, they have over 50 restaurants across Australia and have recently expanded to the U.S. as THISBOWL.

By putting food, crew, and customer service excellence at the core of the FISHBOWL business, they’re leading the way for quick-service restaurants. Read how they use SafetyCulture to invest in brand consistency and provide a unique hospitality experience for their 850+ staff and thousands of customers daily.

A new recipe for scaling

In the early days, the three co-founders were deeply involved in day-to-day operations, traveling across Australia to train crew and implement brand standards at each restaurant. But as they scaled, it became hard to maintain that personal oversight.

“All of a sudden, we needed to be able to give 850 people the same level of attention and training as we would have eight years ago when it was three people and just a handful of mixers,” explains Claritta Peters, FISHBOWL’s Chief People Officer. 

It was time to get creative on how to continue that growth while maintaining the experience and the delicious fresh bowls people loved.

Finding the FISHBOWL secret sauce

One ingredient in FISHBOWL’s airtight brand standards is the now-famous “Casper Factor,” a detailed checklist created by co-founder Casper Ettelson.

“I sat in one of our restaurants and wrote down everything that mattered to me as a customer,” Casper recalls. “It was things like the music that was playing, the air conditioning temperature, the questions staff were asking, and the cleanliness of hard-to-reach places. We wanted to capture the magic sauce that makes FISHBOWL special.” Through this process, the team uncovered three principles to guide their growth—good food, a confident crew, and an excellent hospitality experience.

Now digitized through SafetyCulture Checklists, restaurant managers and area leaders are responsible for conducting routine Casper Factor checks. “I’m embarrassed that the team named it after me, but it’s a great way to check ourselves on our health, safety, quality, and brand promise in every restaurant,” Casper shares. “Day-to-day operations can feel like a whirlwind. We need support systems to manage daily tasks and keep pushing forward.”

A perfect bowl from day one on the job

As more FISHBOWL restaurants popped up, different locations started doing things their way. Megan Ford, FISHBOWL’s Training and Communications Coordinator, stepped in to lead the shift to SafetyCulture to centralize training and bring back consistency. 

Megan was perfect for the task, having started as a FISHBOWL mixer while studying for her nutrition degree. Her frontline experience meant she could spot improvement opportunities a mile away. “Some staff were working across multiple restaurants, and we noticed they were being taught different things depending on the location,” explains Megan. “In a fast-paced environment like ours, quickly getting new employees up to speed is key.”

They set up interactive quizzes, how-to videos, and images in SafetyCulture Training which covered everything from food safety protocols to nutrition knowledge and customer experience expectations. 

“One of our biggest goals was to create engaging, fun, and easy-to-digest training for our team,” Megan explained. “We’re working with a lot of Gen Z employees, and they’re used to consuming content on platforms like TikTok, so we needed to make training short, sharp, and shiny.” They dubbed the platform as THIS SCHOOL, giving it the same look and feel as FISHBOWL branding.

“By gamifying the experience, we have made it a little bit more enjoyable for them,” adds Claritta Peters, the Chief People Officer. The People team finds that the SafetyCulture Platform equips all crew with the knowledge and tools to serve a unique customer experience with every bowl.

Crew Training that clicks

The structured 45-day onboarding process has reduced training time and increased knowledge retention. Employees now adapt faster to their roles, feel more confident, and are better equipped to maintain FISHBOWL’s high standards. 

Before, it was hard to track employee training. Now, over 90% of employees finish their training on time. Managers can easily assign tasks during shifts without disrupting operations, and training records give better visibility into employee skills. “How we start is how we mean to go on,” says Claritta, emphasizing the importance of structured learning. “For us, it’s not just about training someone to make a bowl—it’s about providing them with skills and pathways to grow with the company,” says Claritta. The proof is there, with 30% of the head office team working their way up from restaurant roles. 

Implementing THIS SCHOOL via SafetyCulture Training ensures everyone gets the same learning and development experience. Instead of requiring hands-on, in-store training and demonstrations, every employee has a consistent one-stop training shop where they can access everything they need via the SafetyCulture app—whether they’re in Sydney or New York.

Smart solutions for food safety and quality

Beyond checklists and training, the SafetyCulture platform has become an important part of FISHBOWL’s day-to-day operations. “SafetyCulture’s platform is customizable enough to fit our needs across multiple areas,” says Luke Dippel, FISHBOWL’s Chief Operating Officer. “We use it as an operations tool, a reporting system, and for incident management. Everything that goes towards excellent restaurant experiences starts with SafetyCulture. It’s truly an investment into the future of our brand.”

When we quizzed FISHBOWL on the biggest challenges with food safety standards, Casper said, “Fridge temperatures are a huge thing. That area is very hard to keep track of. Being a fresh food business, we have a lot of produce stock in the fridges.” Automated monitoring with SafetyCulture Sensors was the perfect solution. 

“We’ve now got 130 real-time temperature sensors in all our kitchens and trucks. They alert us if temperatures drop. The escalation process is automatic, so our team can act quickly to avoid stock loss,” explains Luke. “In the past, if a driver left a fridge door open, the contents would be wasted. Now, we get alerts and can take immediate action.”

The system has helped FISHBOWL save over $70,000 by avoiding stock loss, reducing waste, and lowering insurance premiums. “We can keep track of the temperature and the safety of our food 24/7. It’s a pretty amazing tool,” says Casper. “When it comes to serving fish, you screw up once, that’s it. Customer health and safety is our number one priority.”

Fast reporting for a fast industry

SafetyCulture’s incident reporting system, paired with FISHBOWL’s QR code-based hotline, has sped up FISHBOWL’s response times. Employees can instantly report concerns like missing brooms or more serious hazards directly through the app using Issues. 

It ensures all incidents are documented, tracked, and resolved quickly, improving processes, team satisfaction, and the customer experience. “If we’re putting out fires, we’re not worrying about what matters, and that’s serving customers,” Casper says. “Plus, if you’re working in a well-organized environment and you’re being heard and trained, you’ll enjoy your work more. A happy team leads to happy customers—it’s a bit of a loop.”

Looking ahead: serving the FISHBOWL experience globally

As FISHBOWL continues its expansion, SafetyCulture remains a key partner. With plans to open more stores in New York and beyond, FISHBOWL is committed to delivering the same vibrant, high-quality experience that has made it a household name in Australia.

“What’s great is you continuously working with us to improve,” Luke shares. “I’m super excited to use more connected functionality in the platform. For example, if an issue is identified, it can trigger a specific inspection related to the equipment. This could help us track asset history, troubleshoot in real-time, and even assign follow-up actions to contractors—all without needing to pick up the phone. It will streamline our entire maintenance and operations process.”

“SafetyCulture helps us focus on delivering good food, a confident crew, and a fantastic customer experience. We can evolve our operations as we grow and have full trust that we won’t lose what makes FISHBOWL special. With SafetyCulture’s help, we can continue to push the boundaries of fast, healthy food.”

In an industry where consistency is key, FISHBOWL’s innovative approach and SafetyCulture’s powerful platform show how technology can help a brand grow without losing its secret sauce.