RFG's chains include Donut King, Brumby's Bakery, Pizza Capers and Michel's Patisserie, which between them have more than 1,000 stores across Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific.
Australia’s Retail Food Group, which owns restaurant chains including Pizza Capers and Crust Gourmet Pizza, has said that it will put the US market at the heart of its plans for international growth.
The company is already represented in the country by its speciality coffee brand Gloria Jean’s, which operates 55 coffee houses in 21 different states. The group also has 18 outlets of the It’s a Grind coffee house group.
Retail Food Group acquired Gloria Jean’s Coffees in 2014 and is currently working on a brand renovation, ahead of an international rollout. Brian Balconi, head of Retail Food Group USA, revealed that the US market would play a key role in the group’s aggressive expansion plans.
“Our attention is on introducing proven and successful brand systems that we believe have a strong synergistic fit with the US market,” he said.
“We aim to introduce Donut King, Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar, Brumby’s Bakery, Michel’s Patisserie and Pizza Capers, and showcase their market-leading concepts, food innovations and high-quality coffee.”
Back home in Australia, the group also operates several other coffee chains including Esquires, as well as mobile coffee solutions. It is a significant wholesale coffee roaster, supplying its existing brand and third-party accounts under three separate brands, including Di Bella Coffee, which it bought in 2014.
As Retail Food Group managing director Andre Nell explained, the company has strategically and purposefully built a network of businesses that have added significant value to the group, and helped it emerge as a leader in its category.
“The company has acquired and developed a number of complementary businesses and brands that have added incremental strength and growth to the business as a whole,” Nell said.
“We supply our quality coffee and blends to over 30 countries worldwide, including our brand systems, which further strengthens our vertically integrated business operations and growth in the coffee category as specialists from bean to cup.
“Our international model is collaborative and supportive, and we work with our partners on a broad range of operational matters, including development schedules and growth strategies, as well as marketing and training. They benefit from a wealth of experience in retail food franchising, proven systems, global training and support, as well as supply benefits from increased scale and access to best-in-class innovation.”
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