Top 10 franchises Emerging markets such as Africa are fertile grounds for franchising, but on the whole it has a long way to go to becoming a primary business format in the continent. Perhaps, not surprisingly some of the most successful franchising operations have been fast food outlets. Here is 10 of the most successful 10 Verimark – First opened its doors with just two staff in 1977 and now employs more than 1,200 people. It specialises in housewares, health and fitness, DIY, automotive, beauty and educational toys. Committed to delivering quality and service, the franchise operation is just one of a variety of methods it uses to market goods including TV and internet marketing. 9 Old Fashioned Fish and Chips – South Africa’s first traditional local chippy franchised its first outlet in 2006 and now has in excess of 155 shops. Slightly different to the UK fast-food institution in that the fish offered is primarily hake and local tastes favour fat and soft chips instead of think and crispy ones. 8 Spar – The Netherlands-based small supermarket chain first opened a branch in South Africa in 1963 and offers three types of store to potential franchisees. As well as offering customers their favourite brands Spar shops also boast its range of high quality, competitively-priced products. 7 Mugg and Bean – a home grown coffee shop franchise business which was first launched in South Africa in 1996 and now has more than 96 outlets. It’s branded as a home away from home or an office away from the office – the perfect meeting place offering “bottomless” coffee to its myriad of customers. 6 Chicken Republic – Nigeria’s answer to KFC began operating in 2004 and has stores in both Nigeria and Ghana. It has earned a reputation as the fastest growing chicken brand in West Africa after announcing plans to open 300 new outlets by 2012. It is one of Nigeria’s top 20 brands and won the 2009 Financial Standards Awards. 5 Steers – fast food never got better than at Steers, which uses the marketing slogan – real food, made real good. The company, started in 1960, prides itself on making all its food to order from the freshest ingredients which has resulted in it winning a string of best hamburger and best chip awards. 4 MacDonalds – While the Big Mac is loved by fast food connoisseurs around the world, the well-known brand is still pretty young in the continent having opened its first branch in South Africa in 1995. However, its strong reputation is garnering favour among consumers despite the very hot competition it is up against within the marketplace. 3 Wimpy – A pioneer of fast food outlets in the continent, Wimpy opened its first restaurant in South Arica in 1967 and today boasts some 500 outlets. It is always looking to expand the brand which also opened its first UK restaurant in 1962. Five years ago Wimpy South Africa bought out the original UK operation. 2 Nandos – With some 900 stores in 24 countries around the world, this chicken lickin’ delight is exciting the African market with its fiery recipes including its famous flame-grilled, peri peri chicken as well as a string of quirky advertising campaigns which have gone a long way to capturing new customers in South Africa. 1 Subway - With more than 37,000 stores in 100 plus countries around the globe, the Subway chain is stamping its mark all over the African market with an aggressive marketing campaign to win more franchisees to the business. The company was founded in 1965 by Fred Deluca and Dr Peter Buck, an old family friend. Deluca had just graduated from high school in Connecticut, USA, and had dreams of attending college to become a doctor. However, he soon realised he would never earn enough at the local hardware store where he was employed so sought some advice from Dr Buck. Together they came up with the concept of a sandwich store and the rest, as they say, is history.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 14:31:02 +0000