Ferguson Plarre has built a well-established bakery chain by responding to customer needs, whether that’s a perfectly baked croissant or a convenient store location. 

It’s a bakery with a taste for new opportunities, whether in its product offering, store format, or franchise offer.

Tapping into the trends in a way that suits the business has paid off. Since the heritage bakery opened its inaugural drive-through, for instance, the store has proved to be one of the highest-performing in the network.

Smaller format stores deliver cost benefits

The exciting development of the large-scale drive-through model has been matched by the creation of an effective grab-and-go format at the other end of the retail scale.

“There’s a real opportunity I think for us to look at smaller footprint stores such as express locations,” Ferguson Plarre’s CEO Steve Plarre says.

The bakery’s core range of savouries, coffee and a few sweet treats are the ideal grab-and-go items for a retail model even smaller than the kiosks the chain already operates.

The format, in pilot stage right now, is perfect not only for time-poor customers but to take advantage of tight, compact retail spaces.

“If a landlord came to us and said, ‘I’ve got a tiny 15 square metres vacant’, we could put in the bare essentials of a Ferguson Plarre bakery,” Steve says. 

It could be a pies-and-coffee outlet, for instance, that leverages brand awareness and taps into customers’ need for convenience.

This newest trial format ensures the bakery chain can take advantage of any retail opportunity, from drive-through and major shopping centre sites, to kiosks and express hubs.

Using tech to drive smarter business

The smaller footprint also comes with big benefits for franchisees: lower operating costs, from staffing to leasing costs.

Beyond convenience, the bakery chain has an appetite for keeping the retail experience fresh and exciting, harnessing tech advancements to benefit customers and franchisees. 

One development has been the increase of in-store baking. It’s a smart tech-driven move that enables bigger stores to freshly-bake select items, and create an aroma-filled retail experience.

“We are always looking at technology to try and help either improve the customer experience to grow sales or reduce complexity within stores,” Steve says.

Another example of this is using AI to turn thousands of decorated cake options into an easy-to-use digital format that puts creativity and choice in the hands of the consumer.

Zero franchise fee offer

For franchisees, there’s added appeal to the myriad store formats available; Ferguson Plarre has waived its upfront franchise fee for a short time as it looks to support incoming franchisees.

“It’s a tough environment economically, and it can be expensive to build a new store. So we are willing to invest in the right franchise buyers by bringing down the barriers to entry,” Steve says.

This limited offer removes a $35,000 upfront payment for incoming franchisees, aligned with the other cost-conscious initiatives at the bakery, gives new franchisees a head start.

“The express footprint reduces some capital costs and we’ll explore the most labour-efficient models for new franchisees at that profit level.”

The ultimate goal is to attract the right franchisees to match the opportunities available, he says.

“We’ve often got great sites put in front of us and we look to find the right franchisee for those sites. We really like our our franchises to be within 30 minutes of a location or even living in the neighbourhood for that family and community feel.

“We are very respectful of where we open stores. And with 80 stores in Victoria, we really need to pick and choose, to ensure we’re picking the right demographic for the right product,” he says.

“We’ve got people who are investing their savings in a Ferguson Plarre bakery; it’s their investment, so we want to make sure it’s right.”