Fab at 50 - Cookie Man

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Celebrating five decades is a great achievement for any business. Cookie Man retail franchise, the biscuit baker that has been serving up sweet titbits for two generations, started as a true partnership, with Evelyn Hicks the driving force behind the retail cookie concept while husband Kevin was the inventor of the baking ovens.

The Cookie Man brand took a different stance to many small businesses from the beginning. Kevin Hicks recognised the difficulty of breaking into the Arnott's-driven biscuit market and saw an opportunity to develop a retail outlet within a department store. In 1958 the first Cookie Man store opened in Myer Melbourne. The initial gas-powered oven was built under licence in the US using Kevin Hicks' design. Its first biscuit, the Californian, was named to capture the fascination with American products at the time and was created by Dutch baker, Peter Spiker. Next on his menu were macaroon and shortbread biscuits, which were available by the dozen. All the cookies were mixed and baked on site.

Adelaide, Perth and then Sydney were the next locations for this retail success. Soon after launching the brand at the David Jones Sydney store, the Hicks decided to move the business from Melbourne to Sydney. At the same time they started offering the biscuits by weight rather than number. Soon afterwards, the couple opened counters in Grace Bros too. "It was hard work but challenging and enjoyable," Evelyn remembers.

It wasn't long before the new shopping centres got in on the act. The Hicks took up of the offer of space in Westfield's Burwood Shopping Centre and soon the national demand was so great the dough production became centralised in each state for consistency and logistics.

In the 1970s, the company was approached to include the oven and cookies in other bakeries – franchising was the obvious solution. The first stores to adopt this new strategy were Wynyard and Coffs Harbour in NSW.

Every move you make

Cookie Man fast food franchise originator Kevin Hicks died in 2005, but had gone on to build Auto-Bake, an industrial food baking oven business in which his wife Evelyn is still a director, though semi-retired.

"He was a great engineer, and I had a flair for retail and merchandising. I loved it. I think we were pioneers in several ways," she says, "the development of the machine, the way we bagged in front of the customer, the aroma going through. There were not very many specialist businesses when we started out."

The Hicks' launched coffee to compete with other franchises broadening their product lines.
"Every move seems to have improved the business. We've been lucky to keep up with the times. I think it has a great future, a wonderful mix of products all about indulging yourself."

And Evelyn still buys her biscuits in Cookie Man outlets – her favourite is the almond-topped original, the Californian. "Once it's in your blood, it's hard to let go."

Cookie Man travelled further afield with international sites opening up, starting with Toronto in Canada. Evelyn Hicks would always be on hand with each launch of a master franchise to ensure the business was set up correctly and procedures adhered to. France, Switzerland, Germany, South Africa, Korea, China, Greece, England, Thailand and Israel all had Cookie Man outlets and with such a global line-up, inconsistencies in dough mixing crept in. To counteract this, a central dough mixing facility was established, from where the frozen dough would be dispatched across the world.

Cookie Man is now supplying major hotels and airlines including Jet, Kingfisher and with its airport kiosks performing strongly

In 1989 even the company-owned flagship store in Myer Melbourne became a franchise owned by Vic and Bilah Zinreich. They are still at Myer Melbourne Cookie Man today. By 1994, in addition to its international portfolio, Cookie Man had 53 store locations across Australia.

In 1997 Cookie Man restaurant and cafe franchise was sold to one of its previous employees, Peter Elligett and his wife Sharon. Peter took on the role of managing director and four years ago the brand was given a more contemporary look.

In 2007, Cookie Man retail franchise was sold to franchise company Allied Brands and the parent company envisages great synergies across the sibling brands: Baskin Robbins and Kenny's Cardiology.

What's in it for you?

New franchisees receive onsite training and an extensive operations manual, which outlines the day-to-day business details such as selling skills, merchandising techniques, quality standards and product knowledge.

As the freshly baked cookies are made from frozen dough, delivered from the Sydney supply facility, there are no baking or patisserie skills required of franchises – and no early morning starts, either.

Each dough has its own baking settings and the oven is simple to operate and easy to maintain. Gourmet-style cookies come frozen and pre-formed and are also easily baked in the oven.

The only supplier external to the group is Coca Cola, making for easy financial management.

Apart from product support, Cookie Man franchise also provides marketing programs. A rolling series of promotions for each calendar year culminates in the Christmas season shopping frenzy where many retail outlets will take 20 to 40 per cent of the outlet's total yearly sales.

These promotions are organised by head office and all product and promotional material is supplied in packaged form along with detailed pricing, merchandising and promotional instructions.

Shops are also encouraged to develop local centre marketing plans in conjunction with the shopping centre marketing management. There is support in the form of advice from head office, from maintenance queries and baking procedures to merchandising and public relations.

Today overseas franchises can be found in Spain, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Bahrain, Singapore, Mexico, Chile, China and India – the latter two joint-venture businesses. India in particular has shown enormous growth and is considered a well-recognised and established brand, reports Allied Brands director and Cookie Man managing director Peter Elligett.

"Cookie Man has 28 stores in India, including in all major cities, with another five stores due to open by March next year," says Elligett. "Cookie Man is now supplying major hotels and airlines including Jet, Kingfisher and with its airport kiosks performing strongly.

"This impressive performance has fuelled international interest in becoming a master franchisee for the brand in other countries."The immediate targets are master franchisees in Malaysia, Cyprus, Canada, England, Dubai, UAE, Japan, Spain, Thailand and Russia.

"We are now assessing the international applications and intend to finalise arrangements for at least three countries to open stores by the end of 2008," says Elligett. "At the same time, we will continue with accelerated expansion plans for Cookie Man in Australia.

"Allied Brands remains committed to its strategy of pursuing potential acquisitions in Australia in the franchise sector where such acquisitions can provide value for shareholders."

This article appears courtesy of Franchising Magazine.

17/06/2008

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