Young franchise brands in the coffee and food franchising space are being snapped up by the newest group in the sector: Franchise Retail Brands.

Right now two franchise businesses, New York Slice and Hombre Street Food Cafe & Bar, sit in Franchise Retail Brands alongside coffee business 1582, cafe chain Sabatini’s and two new concepts – Crave Ice Creamery and The Dessert House.

And there are more fledgling brands to come, explains Sean Corbin, managing director of Franchise Retail Brands.

It’s a group comprising emerging brands with proof of concept in QSR or coffee, headed up by passionate franchisors, all brought together in one portfolio.

FRB joins other groups in the franchise food space that have multiple household brands in their portfolios:

• Retail Food Group (Brumby’s, Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie and more)
• Retail Zoo (Boost Juice, Cibo, Salsas)
• FoodCo (Jamaica Blue and Muffin Break)
• Franchised Food Company (including Cold Rock Ice Cream, Pretzel World)
• Minor DKL (The Coffee Club, Ribs ‘N Rumps, The Groove Train)
• QSR Restaurants (Oporto, Red Rooster, Chicken Treat)

The Franchise Retail Brands group is focused on picking brands that have what Corbin calls a “strong runway”, that have some “uplift, a fair amount of growth in front of them”.

Profitability is important, and the brands need to have some commonalities for FRB to be able to add benefits, perhaps through the supply chain or in marketing, he says.

“Many of our brands can utilise synergies from marketing, finance and legal to the supply chain.”

The business has its own roasting facility, and centralised kitchens and a bakery will supply the whole group.

“The success of a group of multi-brands is dependent on the level of synergy across the business,” he says. “Marketing, instant legal advice, franchisors are doing everything inhouse so their cost structures are increasing. What we are looking for is a concept that is proven, where the supply chain and the back end are in reasonable shape.”

The business could support 15 disparate brands in the sector, with the right direction and an awareness of the space he says.