Food on the go - Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars facts & figures

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars

Serving up: a range of six healthier choice pizzas.

Facts and Figures

Franchise fee: $45,000

Working capital: about $20,000.

How much is invested in stock/supplies? Up to $5000 is usually invested in stock and supplies up front.

Is this a turnkey operation? Yes

Royalty fee: 7.5 per cent. Marketing levy: 3.5 per cent.

Term: five years. Renewal fee: $1 for a further two to five years.

Lease: franchisee is the lease holder.

Operating hours: each state differs slightly but usually 5pm to 10.30pm Tuesday to Sunday.

Average customer spend: about $28 (two medium pizzas, or a large pizza with sides)

In exchange for the franchise fee the franchisee receives training, site selection, legal fees, shop layout and use of Crust's trademarks. All training costs are covered in the franchise fee: a four week training program, most conducted on-site in an existing store before they open their fast food franchise. Then franchisees have training in their own store for two weeks after opening, and have ongoing access to the support team.

And for royalty and marketing levies?

Royalty: use of the Crust name and branding, recipes, products and ongoing franchisee support while marketing is split between local area marketing - menus and brochures, and brand marketing including point of sale, maintenance of company website and brand PR.

Are there any supplier rebates passed onto the franchisees? Yes. Where possible rebates are negotiated with suppliers and passed on to franchises.

Crust pizza take away franchise currently has 34 franchisees in the system with 20 stores in operation across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and a further 12 due to open by the end of the year. The remaining franchisees are awaiting suitable sites. The goal is 50 franchisees in operation by the end of June 2009.

Crust prides itself on the freshness and quality of ingredients, reflected in the food preparation model: about 90 percent of food preparation is done on-site.

The loyalty of customers has been one of the cornerstones of growth. Reward cards are used in most stores, although a formal points-based loyalty redemption system is currently under development and is likely to be rolled out next year.