Baskin-Robbins starts search for new franchisees

Ice-cream brand Baskin-Robbins is on the hunt for new franchisees as part of its new owners’ expansion in Australia, following the collapse of Allied Brands.

Although Baskin-Robbins already has 92 Australian outlets, former owner Allied Brands recently lost its license to operate the stores, with Baskin-Robbins taking over its franchise contract just before the company entered into voluntary administration.

According to Baskin-Robbins, the demise of its Australian franchise holder has enabled it to take a hands-on approach within a “fabulous” ice-cream market.

Baskin-Robbins has already opened a new store in Brisbane, with four additional stores planned for Queensland and one for New South Wales.

The Queensland stores will be located in Wellington Point, Pacific Pines, Paradise Point and Tugun while the NSW store will be in Coffs Harbour.

Srinivas Kumar, president of Baskin-Robbins International, is confident Australian consumers will continue to eat ice-cream despite increasing awareness about healthy eating and the subsequent downfall of doughnut chain Krispy Kreme.

“There’s warm weather right though the year, people are outdoorsy [and] they love the beaches. Ice-cream goes very well with that. And Australia is a very well developed franchise market,” Kumar says.

“Australia has fantastic opportunities for growth, both through new and existing franchisees, which is evident by the opening of our first new store under Baskin-Robbins International ownership.”

“We are actively looking to increase the number of Baskin-Robbins outlets in Australia and are excited about the level of interest that is already evident in the market.”

Kumar is also excited about taking on Baskin-Robbins’ competitors, including start-up ice cream retailers such as Trampoline, which has managed to establish a presence in Queensland and Victoria. The expansion of Baskin-Robbins is set ot make the market tougher for new entrants.

“In Australia, we are not the number one ice-cream provider; there are others. That is a very strange place for us, which is why I wanted to take control,” he says.

Kumar believe franchisees will be better off under new ownership because they received little support from their previous owner.

“We were just completely unhappy with the way our brand was being managed, more importantly how our franchisees were being treated,” he says.

“We are completely committed to Australia and believe there is great potential for future growth.”