If you want to enter in the food service sector, ice cream franchise could be a good opportunity for you, because you can easily exploit all the advantages related to the franchising formula: the chance to use a well-known brand, lower investments and training support directly provided by your ice cream brand.
In exchange of these benefits, you need to promise the franchisor a pre-established amount of money at the beginning of your business or a specific percentage of your sale revenues: this is the trade-off to share great marketing investments and profitable commercial goodwills!
Most popular Italian ice cream companies
In Italy the first successful ice cream franchising was Grom, with over than 30 ice cream shop in Italy and 12 abroad. It is unmistakable for its thick and sweet creams and for its own famous “salted caramel” flavor. Today Grom group control all its ice cream shops in Italy and grants franchising partnerships only for business activities made overseas.
Nowadays “Gelateria La Romana”, founded in Rimini 70 years ago, is the ice cream franchise that is expanding more in the market; it owns 31 ice cream shop in the Italian biggest cities and others 7 in Europe. It is less “static” and change flavors each month rotating its ingredients. For instance, this month it introduced Cachi ice cream, made with seasonal Cachi fruits.
Ice cream Franchising: types of contracts and characteristics
Ice cream chains in search for new partners, propose different solution to open new business activities. Moreover, there are two kinds of services:
-Traditional service, where customers are served behind the counter
-Self-service service, where consumers have to prepare ice creams theirself through automatic machine.
Concerning the production, exist two kinds of affiliations:
1)Production chains where franchisee have their own workshop: they use manufacturing machines provided by the mother brand
2) Distribution chains where franchisee sells only finished goods provided by the franchisor. Some franchisors permit both the two solutions.
Regarding minimum investment, it is included between 10.000 € and 100.000€ ; the detailed contract is set by the parts with specification in the following area:
-Provision of furniture and machineries
-Initial fees
-Bank guaranty
-Learning and supporting benefits
In addiction to “Grom” and “Gelateria La Romana”, these are the growing franchise which actually look for new partnerships:
-Titto, self-service ice cream shop
-Mu Gelaterie, that allow both the two kinds of services
-Crema e Cioccolato, which require low investment and laboratories
-Dario’s, which needs large shop and workshops
-Gelatosità, traditional ice cream shop
-Vanilla Milano, that permit to sell either ice creams and chocolate pralines.
