November 19, 2019
Going after the ‘gap’ in the coffee & food market.
“Give us consistently passing high-foot traffic, and we can efficiently unleash our fit-for-purpose business model with passionate franchise owners as the face of their business.”
Talk to Steve Andrews, Operations Manager of Croissant Express, and you can tell he knows the business inside out.
“We’ve tinkered and tweaked and tried different things here and there over the years in our approach, but 30+ years of experience and knowledge in the market means we know exactly who we are and where we fit into the market.”
Steve is not only referring to Croissant Express itself, which has been an established fixture on the WA café scene in particular for that long, and has been methodically expanding nationally. But, almost going unnoticed (if you didn’t ask), is Steve’s similar years’ experience in food retailing, that passionately peaks at Croissant Express.
Fast-food experience as a kid
“I started as a young kid in Hungry Jacks cleaning floors and flipping burgers. I’m just like many before, and after me, who has the quick service food restaurant industry to thank for our first jobs. And moving through varying roles, I stayed at Hungry Jacks for a couple of decades!”
“I’m passionate about passing on my knowledge and experience to our existing franchise owners, and to new ones looking to join us. In particular, labour cost is an area I focus in on with our franchise owners. ”
“In this business, your food, premises, and other costs are relatively fixed give or take. Or at least, it can be hard to do much about them day-to-day. The area where I see so many of food retail (and café) businesses run into problems, is their lack of attention on their staff costs. Keep a tight rein on this, and look after your team properly as a leader, and you have a much tighter grip on your business.”
Built to remove operating complexity
The Croissant Express business model is built around ensuring that complexity is taken out of the business operation. Steve explains that “From my observations in many other businesses, having a menu offer that is not well thought out as far as its impact on store operations, can easily tilt a business off balance. However, our model focuses on a fresh food menu of items that are basically an everyday purchase item for many; baguettes, breads and other grab-and-go foods, and lot’s coffee of course.”
Comparing the Croissant Express business to others in the market
Having already addressed the consumer related grab-and-go focused offer gap in the market, Steve is just as comfortable with where Croissant Express fits in the market compared to other café business offers.
“Some of the larger café / coffee businesses are mostly 2 – 3 times the entry price of a Croissant Express business. We also have a lot less machinery needed in our stores with our focused, but daily ‘staple’ type appealing menu offer – this keeps cost down, but it also keeps down complexity AND staff costs.”
“Our take on the café / coffee business is that you don’t necessarily make more money by buying a bigger business with more machinery and more staff to manage in it. “
“A high-traffic, CBD type location occupying a small footprint, and trading 5-days a week with great coffee and daily fresh breads, baguettes and other grab-and-go foods, for me, this is the better way to go.”
