IT’S BACK AND BIGGER THAN EVER. Now in its fourth year, our “Best Franchise Deals” report has become the can’t-miss list of top quick-service and fast-casual franchises, assessing factors such as investment-to-sales ratio, marketplace differentiation, corporate support to franchisees, and positive brand momentum. While the pre- vious reports whittled the best-franchise list down to 10, this year we’re homing in on 12 different brands in three size categories: The Hungry Upstarts, which focuses on smaller, emerging concepts; The Rising Stars, spotlighting more estab- lished brands seeking national penetration; and The Powerbrokers, well-established concepts with more than 300 units. // FRESH TO ORDER Deals 2013 Best Franchise Looking to add a brand to your portfolio? These are the limited-service industry’s best bets. BY DANIEL P. SMITH PAPA JOHN’S, FRESH TO ORDER, MENCHIE’S FROZEN YOGURT, BURGERFI ® JULY 2013 / NO. 182 WWW.QSRMAGAZINE.COM
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It’s back and bIgger than ever. Now in its fourth year, our “Best Franchise Deals” report has become the can’t-miss list of top quick-service and fast-casual franchises, assessing factors such as investment-to-sales ratio, marketplace differentiation, corporate support to franchisees, and positive brand momentum. While the pre-vious reports whittled the best-franchise list down to 10, this year we’re homing in on 12 different brands in three size categories: The Hungry Upstarts, which focuses on smaller, emerging concepts; The Rising Stars, spotlighting more estab-lished brands seeking national penetration; and The Powerbrokers, well-established concepts with more than 300 units.
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Fresh To OrderA pioneer of the “fast-fine” dining segment—a restaurant concept blending casual fine dining’s food quality with the operational platform and price points of fast casual—Fresh To Order (f2o) features a chef-inspired, line cook–executed menu of freshly prepared entrées, Panini sandwiches, soups, and salads, all served in under 10 minutes for around $10.
With an already strong lunch business, forty percent of the seven-year-old, Georgia-based concept’s daily business stems from dinner sales, a number that underscores f2o’s ability to please guests across two day parts and provide strong ROI to franchisees. Within the next five years, f2o plans to expand beyond its Southern base by opening 50 new stores and adding 50 more to its development pipeline, including in nontraditional venues.
“With average unit volumes of $1.7 million and year-over-year comparable sales growth of over 10 percent for the last three years, our financial foundation is formidable,” says f2o chief development officer Jocelyn Blain.
AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE: Eric Simon, head of the business intelligence services team at Virginia-based FRANdata, likes f2o’s ability to attract business during different day parts, its strict franchise requirements, and its development that features both franchised and corporate-owned locations. He says corporate stores show that the brand is committed to growing alongside its franchisees and to understanding “the reality of what is happening on the street level of its business.”
F r a n c h i s e D e a l s
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