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Condé Nast To Open Restaurants Licensed On its Magazine Titles

August 7, 2010 By Pooja Kulkarni Leave a Comment

Vanity Fair Cafe Joke

Here’s a rather interesting example of licensing / brand expansion: Condé Nast is preparing to license several of its magazine titles to restaurants across Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The company’s new Hong Kong-based restaurant division will be called, appropriately enough, “Condé Nast Restaurants,” and will oversee the licensing of Vogue and GQ related eateries.

Condé-themed restaurants already exist in Russia, where diners can savor the delicious irony of eating at Vogue Café, in addition to a GQ Bar or Tatler Club, made possible through a collaboration with restaurateur Arkady Novikov.

The company hopes to open the first couple of licensed restaurants in 2011, most likely in Hong Kong and Dubai or Singapore

Filed Under: Beauty, Fast Food Tagged With: , , , ,

Coffee Bean roasts Israeli Master Franchisee

August 7, 2010 By Pooja Kulkarni Leave a Comment

Says all master franchisee branches must close

by 8th August 2010

International Food Franchise Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain has given its Israeli master franchisee, City Food until Sunday, 8th August 2010 to close down all 11 branches in Israel, because of alleged violations of their franchising agreement. Also, for months, master Franchisee City Pass hasn’t been making its franchise payments and now owes hundreds of thousands of dollars, a Coffee Bean representative said.
If the shops are not closed by 8th August 2010, steps will be taken, the local legal representative of the chain said. For months the master franchisee City Food hasn’t reported on revenues at the branches, in violation of their agreement, Coffee Bean charges. It hasn’t reported on opening new branches or closing existing ones, leaving the home office in the dark as to the state of affairs at Coffee Bean in Israel, it says, let alone knowing if it’s even profitable.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is present in several parts of Middle East, India and Singapore as well. The international coffee franchise is concerned about damage to its good name, explains Eyal Flom, one of the local legal representatives of the chain. The local outfit has been notified that from August 8, the franchise agreement is terminated and therefore, they have to close down all stores from that day.

Coffee Bean is unhappy about City Food’s moves to unite local Coffee Bean outlets with other brands, which contravenes their policies. In some places City Food opened sushi bars inside Coffee Bean outlets, and at the main outlet in Netanya (in the Northern Centre District of Israel), the Coffee Bean was merged with a Sbarro outlet, it says.

Among the many alleged violations, City Food opened branches without obtaining prior permission and tried to sell half its master franchise to the Abulafia family, also without the global company’s blessing, claims the latter.

The master franchisee, City Food did not respond for this report.

About Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf:
Since 1963, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is one of the oldest and largest privately held coffee & tea retailer in the United States. Over the past five years, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® has grown from 217 stores to over 750 at the end of 2008, serving more than 100 million beverages each year, including over 20,000 Ice Blended® drinks each day.

Filed Under: Fast Food, Fast Food, Master Franchise, Retail Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Galadari Ice Cream company, Middle East Master Franchisee scoops 450th Baskin-Robbins store

July 21, 2010 By Pooja Kulkarni 1 Comment

June 24, 2009: There is no melting Baskin-Robbins in the Middle East as it marks today the opening of 450th store in the region at the Palm Jumeirah as executives announced continued expansion to reach close to 500 stores by end of the year.

From left to right: John Varghese, Managing Director for Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia, Dunkin’ Brands, Inc., Srinivas Kumar, Chief Brand Officer, Baskin-Robbins Worldwide; Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc., and, Manoj Loya, General Manager of Galadari Ice Cream Company.

The inauguration of the new store was led by Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc.; Srinivas Kumar, Chief Brand Officer, Baskin-Robbins Worldwide, and, John Varghese, Managing Director for Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Dunkin’ Brands Inc. is the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins brands.

Joining them during the opening ceremony and at the following press conference were Khaled Soliman, Group COO of Galadari Brothers Group and Manoj Loya, General Manager of Galadari Ice Cream Company, the licensee for the brand in the GCC.

The presence of top management from Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. highlights the importance of Baskin-Robbins’ here in the GCC.

“As a franchisor, we stand on the shoulders of our franchise partners to build our brand. We congratulate our partner, the Galadari Ice Cream Company, along with its management team on the 450th store opening in the Middle East. This milestone is exciting for all of us and it would not have been possible without the hard work and support of this tremendous team. We thank GICC for their dedication, passion and commitment, and most importantly, their partnership over the past 30 years,” said Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc.

“Our commitment to public is to serve premium quality Baskin-Robbins ice cream no matter where they are in the GCC. We are proud to reach a landmark 450 stores all over the Gulf and there are more coming up. This is a great opportunity for us to thank our loyal customers who take on scoop by scoop of their favorite flavours at Baskin-Robbins,” said Khaled Soliman, Group COO of Galadari Group, parent company of Galadari Ice Cream Company.

At the press conference following the opening of the Palm Jumeirah parlour, GICC executives announced year-to-date sales have increased by over 20% compared to 2008. In June alone, six new stores have been opened by the company across the region. GICC also plans to open 45 new stores in the region and is looking at entering new markets across Africa and Middle East

Manoj Loya, General manager of GICC said: “We are on an aggressive stance to pursue our expansion plans in spite of the general economic slowdown. We are confident of a sooner-than-expected turnaround in the region. As such, GICC’s expansion includes diversifying across new store formats such as Café Baskin Robbins and BR Express with an aim to bring new and exciting ice cream and dessert based product experiences for our customers.”

Baskin-Robbins recently opened the world’s largest store in the region through the Café Baskin-Robbins in Jeddah, KSA covering a total store area of 5,000 sq. ft. The Café is the equivalent of a fast-casual restaurant serving premium quality Baskin-Robbins ice cream, baked desserts, ice cream fondue and its signature delicacy Affogato – scoop of ice cream served with shot of freshly brewed espresso. The store also holds the special position of being the world’s largest Baskin Store.

In 2008, GICC registered a $100m revenue, up by 20% over the previous year with a positive same store sales growth. For the Baskin-Robbins brand, GICC operates through five different joint ventures in the Gulf consisting of the following number of stores per country: KSA-223, UAE-108, Kuwait-47, Qatar-36, Bahrain-24, and, Oman-12.

The Galadri Ice Cream Company is the largest multiple unit franchisee globally, second only to the Graviss Group, the Indian Master Franchisee. The Galadri Group has several international franchise tieups for distribution and retailing.

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