The Coffee Club launches franchisee recruitment drive

Café franchise The Coffee Club plans to open a new Australian store every fortnight for the next five years, while expanding into new and existing markets including Egypt, China and Thailand.

In 2011, The Coffee Club Australia achieved revenue growth of 8.1%, with total growth in sales of 14.2%. Turnover for the year was $344 million.

This year, The Coffee Club Australia expects to see revenue growth of 13.6%, while The Coffee Club Group and its associated brands expect to see revenue growth of 29% globally.

Founded in 1989, the company currently serves more than 40 million cups of coffee every year and has more than 280 stores.

In Australia, the company is aiming to open a new store every fortnight for the next five years, targeting 500 stores by 2020.

The focus will be on new sites in Victoria and NSW, with an expected 25 new cafés opening their doors. Only 10% of the company’s stores are company-owned.

Internationally the business will enter Egypt and Papua New Guinea for the first time, whilst further extending its existing footprint in China, Thailand and New Caledonia.

China has been cited as a particularly important market for the company, with plans for 30 new stores in the next three years.

Emmanuel Drivas, founder-director of The Coffee Club, says growth is continuing on the back of discerning Australian and global consumers in search of good coffee and value for money.

“We know our business model works and believe it is well suited to numerous international markets, and our global expansion plans reflect that,” Drivas says.

With regard to the company’s recruitment strategy, Drivas believes The Coffee Club is attractive to prospective franchisees because of “the brand and the bottom line”.

“We’ve demonstrated that a franchisee’s bottom line, or income, from The Coffee Club probably exceeds what our opposition has to offer,” he says.

“At the end of the day, it’s a simple sort of business… It’s all about great service, good food and excellent coffee.”

“Even in shopping centres [where many of the franchises are located], the turnover is still up there. Even when things are tough in shopping centres, people are still using them as day outs.”

“They’re not spending money on clothes and white goods, so they’ve got more time to sit down and have a coffee…. A cup of coffee is still something everyone can afford.”

With regard to the company’s newest markets – Egypt and Papua New Guinea – Drivas says businesspeople in those countries approached the company about becoming master franchisees.

However, he says little has been changed in the way of marketing to consumers overseas.

“What we have done overseas is slightly tweak the menu. In Thailand, 20% of the menu has a Thai influence while the menu in Egypt caters to Muslims,” he says.

“But in China, it’s 100% Australian. We’re going over there as a Western brand, so people expect something different.”