Franchises of the Future in the USA

In an industry dominated by the Burger Kings, McDonald’s, KFCs and Pizza Huts, it’s easy to believe that there is no room for innovation in this heavily populated market sector, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. While the domain of the fast food burger may be forever the preserve of the golden arches, in this day and age the customer’s tastes have broadened, and many of the most promising franchises we found were businesses that had found a niche other companies weren’t able to fill.

So, without further ado, here are the franchises we think you’ll be hearing a lot more from in the non-too-distant future.

Name: Qdoba Mexican Grill
First Restaurant: 1995
Started Franchising: 1997
Outlets: 494 (2009)
Started up 15 years ago by partners Anthony Miller and Robert Hauser, Qdoba Mexican Grill was founded with the idea of bringing San Francisco’s Mission-style burrito to Colorado. Since opening their first restaurant in Denver, the company has expanded rapidly, opening over 160 branches in the last four years alone.
http://www.qdoba.com/

Name: Salad Creations
First Restaurant: 2002
Started Franchising: 2004
Outlets: 49 (2009)
Fast food outlets have tried to lure in the health conscious consumer before, but few food franchises have been brave enough to make salad their front and centre product. Salad Creations broke the mold with its offering of salads, dressings, wraps, soups and smoothies, jumping from only nine outlets to 49 since 2006.
http://www.saladcreations.net/

Name: Al Farooj Fresh
First Restaurant: 1994
Started Franchising: 2006
Outlets: 17 (2009)
Each of these up and coming franchises has found a market niche neglected by its competitors, and turned that into a unique selling point. This is true of the Al-Farooj Fresh Chain, which use only Halal ingredients. The franchise had its watershed moment when it was acquired by the Al-Islami Food Group, who have invested heavily in bringing the brand up to international standards.
http://www.alfarooj.com/

Name: Boost Juice Bars
First Restaurant: 2000
Started Franchising: 2000
Outlets: 239 (2009)
Boost Juice’s founder, Janine Allis opened the first Boost Juice Bar in 2000 after nine months of research and negotiations.
Like others on this list, Allis addressed the gap in the market for healthy fast food, and Boost Juice’s offering of healthy juices and smoothies, free from preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, has expanded from one outlet to 239 in less than a decade.
Most recently, the brand has been bought up by The Riverside Company, keeping Allis on board.
http://www.boostjuicebars.com/

Name: East Dawning
First Restaurant: 2004
Started Franchising: 2004
Outlets: 18
While the other franchises listed here are the result of a single or small group of entrepreneurs, East Dawning is an experiment by the undisputed master of the market sector, Yum! Brands, owners KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell. East Dawning is Yum!’s attempt to adapt the quick-service format of brands like KFC to selling authentic Chinese food to the Chinese consumer. China is a huge potential market, and you can bet that Yum!’s competitors will be paying close attention to how well East Dawning performs.
http://www.dfjb.com.cn/
http://www.yum.com/company/china.asp

By Chris Farnell  http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/