Freshly baked muffins, great coffee, a friendly hello – this is what customers love about Muffin Break stores. Now the bakery cafe chain is celebrating a series of award wins and looking ahead to an exciting year, fuelled by an upcoming store refresh, and a brilliant new financial incentive for incoming franchisees.
Foodco is the Muffin Break parent company and CEO Richard Goodman says “We asked ourselves, what’s the right offer to ensure the benefit is going in the right place? For a franchisee the first year is always the most challenging.”
So Muffin Break will waive the franchise fees up to a total of $40,000 for franchise buyers signing up to a brand new site in Australia or New Zealand, before 30th of June 2023.
Muffin Break $40K incentive is a limited time offer
This exciting, one-off deal means new franchisees are well-placed to see healthy profits in their first year of trading. It’s a perfect solution when franchisees are at their most cash-strapped and focused on executing operational procedures.
The Muffin Break $40K incentive for new franchise buyers is activated when a franchisee signs up, pays the deposit, and receives a letter of offer before 30th of June of this year.
“Once they open the business, franchisees start paying royalties as a turnover percentage. But with this limited time offer, they won’t be required to pay the first $40,000 of fees. Depending on circumstances, that could equate to about nine months royalty-free,” says Richard.
Putting franchisees at the heart of the business is the main ingredient for success at Muffin Break.
“We coach and support franchisees to be successful,” he says.
Cafe chain celebrates big wins
And what better affirmation of this commitment, than a national award win for a field manager from the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA)?
Muffin Break has boosted its trophy cabinet with an impressive trio of franchise industry honours.
Crystal Allen won the Field Manager of the Year award for her work supporting franchisees in Queensland.
“Crystal is a phenomenal executive in business and a terrific example of someone who works so passionately to ensure franchise success. She’s a great leader and I am proud to have someone of her calibre in our business,” says Richard.
Muffin Break also celebrated another two award recipients in the Franchise Council of Australia Excellence in Franchising Awards. Northern Territory franchisees Gayle and Des Purdue were named the national Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year.
“These franchisees did an amazing job to create a meeting point for the community. In a highly competitive market they achieved a fantastic result,” says Richard.
And the triple win was completed with Foodco Group Executive Chairman, Serge Infanti, joining the FCA Hall of Fame.
Serge led the Foodco business for more than 20 years, handing over to Richard last year and taking on an international executive role. Richard says Serge’s long-term contribution to the Muffin Break brand has been substantial.
“He spent a lot of time behind the scenes, supporting others, ensuring we can continue to be a supportive franchise. Muffin Break is a model that provides a template to do the best.”
Most satisfied customers award
Muffin Break was also awarded the Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customers Award for 2022.
The chain romped past 12 nationally known brands in the coffee shops ratings. It earned five-star reviews for the taste of its drinks, product consistency, customer service, speed of service, value for money, and overall satisfaction.
“These awards came out of nowhere!” says Richard. “Customers vote independently for these Canstar awards, so it is a real compliment to us, and to our franchisees – I think they are doing a phenomenal job.
“I’ve been blown away by the consistent and regular recognition so many of our franchisees are receiving. They execute the template we provide, but none of the awards we’re celebrating would happen without franchisees doing a brilliant job.
“We are promoting this Canstar win in stores at the moment, we think it’s important to shout about it.”
New store design, new transit locations
Franchisees of course love the recognition but are most excited about upcoming innovations – including stronger coffee dosage to meet changing customer tastes, and an exciting new store design.
Richard says customers will love Muffin Break’s younger branding.
“We want people to see this will still be the Muffin Break they’ve known. But it looks a little bit different, exciting.”
Foodco will unveil the fresh-faced Muffin Break later this year.
“We’ve had a lot of franchisees now confident and delighted to see traffic coming back to shopping centres.”
Shopping centre outlets account for 97 per cent of the network, and food courts remain at the heart of the Muffin Break location profile. However, a fresh approach to expansion will take the much-loved brand into new arenas. High volume sites will cater for on-the-go consumers.
“Muffin Break is a great solution for any airport, drive-thru petrol station or transit location. There is a Muffin Break store at Adelaide Airport already,” says Richard.
The cafe chain looks set for a strong year with new ways to deliver just what the customer loves. Find out more at Muffin Break.