Australia’s largest multi-brand retail food franchisor and leading wholesale coffee roaster, Retail Food Group Limited (RFG) is experiencing an increased appetite for coffee franchises abroad as coffee culture develops in global markets.
RFG’s newly established International Division has overseen the opening of 16 new Gloria Jean’s Coffees outlets outside of Australia over the past two months.
RFG CEO – Franchise Andre Nell said the new outlet openings were representative of the growing interest in café franchises in countries where coffee culture is developing.
“Australia’s coffee market is reasonably mature, with coffee consumers quite sophisticated and the café sector highly competitive,” said Mr Nell.
“In regions like Asia, espresso coffee culture is growing rapidly in popularity as consumers adjust their palates, acquire new tastes and learn more about the processes, flavours and blends available through espresso style coffee.
“Coffee consumption trends are actually quite varied across different countries, for example, customers in China drink coffee well into the night rather than the morning-focussed trade we see here in Australia.”
Mr Nell said Gloria Jean’s Coffees has a strong new store opening pipeline in place to facilitate international growth over the coming year, with the highest growth regions predicted to be China, Malaysia and Turkey.
“Turkey recently surpassed 40 outlets, opening six new stores in the past two months, and RFG’s joint venture partner in China is forecasting a minimum of 25 new store openings in the next twelve months,” said Mr Nell.
“RFG’s traditional brands are also gearing up for expansion with increased interest from international partners since the establishment of a dedicated internal International Division.”
As the exclusive coffee roaster and supplier to its franchises both domestic and international, the Company’s growing store numbers lead to wholesale coffee sales growth.
“RFG currently roasts and blends around 5.9m kilograms of coffee each year. Continued rapid growth in our international footprint will also lead to significant growth in our vertically integrated coffee roasting business,” said Mr Nell.
RFG currently operates coffee roasting facilities in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, with plans to establish further offshore roasting facilities to cater for international growth.