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Why Experiential Brands is developing new restaurant franchises from scratchWhy Experiential Brands is developing new restaurant franchises from scratch

Chief culinary and concept officer James Walker offers an inside look at the three new brands under the Experiential umbrella.

Sam Oches, Editor in Chief

July 27, 2023

1 Min Read
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It’s a franchisor’s job to ensure its franchisees are profitable. By designing a concept that is modestly cheap and easy to execute and a menu that is craveable, a franchisor can ensure that its franchisees have the best chance to earn a return on their investment and want to invest further in the brand.  

Recognizing that fact, Experiential Brands set out to game the system. The subsidiary of NRD Capital — founded by long-time restaurant franchisee Aziz Hashim in 2014 — set out to develop new franchises from scratch, optimizing them for easy execution and profitability. Those brands — The Original Hot Chicken, Inked Tacos, and Pinsa Roman Pizza — are essentially a modular franchise opportunity, available to franchisees either as one-off restaurants or as a packaged deal that sees the brands sharing real estate and kitchen space in the name of minimizing fixed costs.

James Walker, chief culinary and concept officer for Experiential Brands, joined the latest episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches to talk about why Experiential Brands is designing franchises from scratch for the sake of profitability and how the company has optimized each brand with expansion in mind. 

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

  • Developing a brand from scratch is harder than ever

  • Social media provides a great opportunity to craft a brand personality

  • You can design new restaurants to house multiple brands with minimal capital expenditure

  • A new way to view ROI is a “return on innovation”

  • Your economic model will determine the longevity of your brand

  • Franchisees today want easy execution and quick return on investment

Contact Sam Oches at [email protected].

 

About the Author

Sam Oches

Editor in Chief

Sam Oches is an award-winning Editorial Director with Informa Connect Foodservice and editor in chief of Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. A graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, Sam previously served as Editorial Director of Food News Media, publisher of QSR and FSR magazines. He’s a past president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) and a past board member with the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). His foodservice insights have been shared in national media outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today, National Public Radio, and CNBC. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and three kids.

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