By David Chilton Saggers
In the popular QSR market, how can one brand stand out? Brand success requires a unique proposition, providing customers with value, and clearly identifying your target market. That’s what these QSR franchise successes have done.
Pita Pit
Pita Pit has grown from a single restaurant near Queen’s University into an established Canadian quick-service restaurant brand serving a broad range of customers. The brand began in 1995 in Kingston, Ontario near the Queen’s University, says Chris Cann, Brand Leader. Franchising began five years later and has continued under Foodtastic’s ownership, which purchased the brand in 2021. Since then, Pita Pit has shown explosive growth, with 240 locations across Canada, says Cann, with another 100 stores in New Zealand, Australia, and Trinidad and Tobago, and a presence in India, too.
As for further expansion, Cann goes on to say there’s work to be done in Quebec and also more room for progress in Western Canada. “Calgary and British Columbia have tons of room to grow,” says Cann. “The West has been underdeveloped.”
Pita Pit, guided from its headquarters in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, is looking for franchisees who demonstrate commitment, capability, and capacity. Cann says some experience in the restaurant business is preferred, but the brand has also attracted franchisees from a range of professional backgrounds. “It’s been a good solid mix so far,” he continues. “A number of [franchisees] were our customers at one point.” Speaking of customers, Pita Pit now appeals to a broad range of demographics. While university students helped build the brand’s early following, its customer base has evolved to include busy professionals, parents and families looking for convenient meal options, and younger consumers, including Gen Z.
The construction cost of a franchise depends on its market and whether the store is a new build or a conversion, ranging from $425,000 to $550,000. The sweet spot for a location runs from 1,300 to 1,600 square feet and most Pita Pit locations can be found in retail plazas, while others are found at gas stations, paired with well-known coffee shops. Training takes two to four weeks in person, in-store, and online, and each franchisee is supported from day one by head office staff.
The benefits of a Pita Pit investment are many, says Cann. It’s a high-profile brand with a substantial corporation behind it. That means franchisees can depend on that partnership to take advantage of its buying power to lower their costs. Also on hand are Foodtastic’s internal systems, including marketing and design support.
Tommy Café
Peter Mammas is clear about what he’s looking for in a Tommy Café franchisee: “We want people who are social. It’s a café. It’s a local neighbourhood fixture. They really need to lean towards customer service. This isn’t a transactional franchise.” In other words Tommy Café, which got its start in Montreal in early 2015, is a café like no other. For one thing its 18 to 35 target customer is skewed towards women who are looking for somewhere that’s trendy and cool, with healthy food options. “It’s a higher-end offering,” says Mammas, “with a ‘flower child’ atmosphere.” He says the average spend per person is about $19.
The cost of a franchise is $750,000. The 10 locations currently open are in Quebec, which is where the system got going after the Foodtastic corporation bought the brand from its founder and starting franchising in earnest in 2021, says Mammas, Foodtastic’s president and CEO, from Montreal. “This is a concept we want to take out of Quebec. We want to be in either Calgary or Toronto within the next 12 months and we are actively looking for investors.” Training takes two to three weeks in-store and there’s a further two weeks of in-store support starting on opening day. Of the 10 franchises already up and running, eight were new builds and two were conversions. The ideal size for a Tommy Café is 2,200 square feet. To keep with the brand’s spirit of fresh, healthy options for a young customer base, Mammas says Tommy locations are best in open, busy areas where there’s socializing going on.
Like the other brands in the Foodtastic portfolio, the benefits of investing in a Tommy Café are many. For one thing the company is one of Canada’s largest franchisors. As a consequence, says Mammas, it can offer its franchisees its considerable buying power, national marketing, and access to a proven system.
Fresh Burger
Jacques Kavafian was a 30-year Bay Street guy in Toronto until he decided to retire in 2013. So what does a bored financial analyst who wants to retire do? He opens a burger and fries restaurant in Richmond Hill, a Toronto suburb, that same year. Neither Kavafian nor his wife—who started Fresh Burger with him—had any restaurant experience, but, given their success from the get-go, that wasn’t a problem. “We had a line-up when we opened,” says Kavafian. “The first day we ran out of fries at 12:30 pm.”
Fresh Burger serves only fresh burgers and fries—because Kavafian likes burgers and fries—and began franchising in 2017. There are now eight franchised stores and one corporate unit, with a 10th location set to open in Toronto this year. It’s Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe of southern Ontario that Kavafian has his eye on when he thinks of expansion. “Our plan is to have 30 stores around the Golden Horseshoe. We have no plans to go anywhere else.” The reasons for staying close to home are simple, he says. He wants Fresh Burger to be a leader in its principal market, and to ensure quality remains high. However, this proximity won’t be damaging, says Kavafian. Stores will be close enough to create brand awareness, but far enough to avoid any cannibalization of the brand’s own business.
As for the qualities of his franchisees, Kavafian admits he’s “picky” and looks favourably on husband and wife teams, with actual and potential investors, skewing younger to middle age. They don’t have to have restaurant experience, but they must be service oriented. As far as customer base, office workers are Fresh Burger’s most valuable regulars, with construction workers next and families on weekends after that. The cost of a franchise is $450,000 and the ideal store, whether a new build or a conversion is 1,500 square feet. Strip malls have been his go-to real estate, but the brand’s next four locations will be street front in downtown Toronto. Training takes six weeks in either Richmond Hill or Mississauga, another Toronto suburb.
The benefits of a Fresh Burger investment are clear, says Kavafian, and with just 10 stores for now in and around Canada’s most important market there are good locations available. Kavafian calls himself “a financial guy”—in other words, someone who can look at the numbers and see what works. But it doesn’t stop there. His system is dine-in or takeout and every meal is served in a paper bag. That means just 18 grams of compostable waste per customer, says Kavafian, back among the numbers.
