FRANCHISING Cafes & Bakeries article "To your taste".Bakers ClubChristian Coenen’s family has been baking in France and Germany for over 160 years. Few could be better placed to bring the best of European baking into Australia and, when he co-founded Bakers Club in 2006, it was with the goal of staying true to the family tradition for freshness and quality. Today there are six Bakers Club outlets, three company-owned and three franchised, with two more due to open by the end of the year. One of the new stores will trial a unique approach to ‘drive through’ purchasing which, if successful, will open the door to new opportunities for franchisees. “Generally, when people go to a drive through, they make their choice from pictures and place their order by speaking into a microphone,” says Ulrich Klatte, (Co-Founder of Baker’s Club). “We’re making the experience much more personal by having the full range on display behind a long window so you can simply point at what you’d like. It’s great for people in a hurry – and people with babies and young children really appreciate not having to get them out of the car.” The range includes German breads such as wholegrain, sourdough and pure rye, organic breads, high quality Australian breads, sandwiches, cakes and pies as well as an extensive gluten-free selection. Everything is baked on the premises in a traditional stone oven; not only is the product as fresh as it can be, baking starts just an hour before opening time so there’s no overnight shift to factor in. The fact that Bakers Club doesn’t trade in the evening is another drawcard for many franchisees, particularly those with young families. The ideal franchisee is a good at selling, enjoys working with people and is comfortable following instructions. “You should only consider going into a retail business if you really love being in a retail environment have excellent selling skills,” says Klatte. “We can teach you all about the products and the systems and everything else you need to know to make your franchise a success but we can’t teach personality.” Klatte believes that this is a particularly exciting time for franchisees to join Bakers Club. “While we’re relatively new there’s an opportunity for more input as to how things develop in the future and, I believe, to make a bigger profit down the track,” he says. Investment required: $300-400,000 |
