Pie Face franchise puts new twist on classic Aussie food staple

JANE HARPER
JULY 04, 2014
HERALD SUN

IF A key rule of business is to give the customers what they want, Kevin Waite is determined to do just that.
The nation’s favourite snack food is set to find its way into hundreds more shopping centres and street corners under aggressive expansion plans devised by the new Pie Face executive.
Australians’ love affair with the pie will see the bakery franchise’s network of 80 Australian stores balloon to more 300 in a matter of years, Mr Waite tells BusinessDaily.
“Having 300 stores would be an absolute bare minimum, but we will do more if we can” says Mr Waite, who was appointed managing director of Pie Face’s Australian and New Zealand operations last month.
“There’s absolutely no way this country cannot support 400 to 500 stores.”
When it comes to growing a franchise business, Mr Waite has been at the front line for nearly 15 years.
In his native South Africa, he was managing director of the Steers restaurant brand, overseeing international expansion and a doubling in size and annual turnover.
He immigrated to Australia in 2007 and has worked as general manager of the Ribs
and Rumps brand and managing director of the Brumbies bakeries franchise group.
Now taking up the new challenge with Pie Face, Mr Waite says the Sydney-based group has opportunities for growth throughout the business, from the factory floor to the store.
He says the ambitious expansion plans “won’t happen overnight”, but opening 30 to 40 new stores a year is a realistic goal.
Small towns, strip shopping centres and city centres nationwide are on the radar for potential expansion, but existing Pie Face franchisees may face a sight not entirely welcome — new stores popping up nearby.
Mr Waite says the convenience appeal of bakery products and coffee means customers are often unwilling to travel out of their way to visit stores.
As a result, he says, a small area can support a number of franchises.
His comments come in the wake of highly public criticism over the past two years from a number of Pie Face franchisees who claim they have been misled over costs and potential earnings.
With the company recently settling one of the chief complaints out of court, Mr Waite says the group takes franchise placements seriously.
“We are very cognisant of cannibalisation,” he says.
“We will never put a store too close to others that would negatively affect another franchisees’ store.
“That simply doesn’t make any business sense.”
Mr Waite will be driving Pie Face’s growth on the home front, while founder and chief executive Wayne Homschek makes headway on international shores.
The company in October announced a major deal to open at least 100 stores in the Middle East through an agreement with Dubai-based hospitality group Landmark.
It entered its first foreign market in 2012 with seven stores in New York, and a New Zealand launch followed late last year.
“The company went through a very sharp growth spurt a few years ago and then there was a lot of interest overseas in the brand,” Mr Waite says.
“There’s been a lot of emphasis on the international side, and that’s why I’m here to focus on the Australian and New Zealand side.”
He says a key priority is investment in the group’s Sydney-based factory, which employs about 80 people and produces all the goods for the Pie Face franchises.
“When you can own the production chain right through to the customer you can have a big advantage,” Mr Waite says.
“We will protect the quality of the product no matter what, but we are looking at the logistics side and technology and investment in equipment to speed up processes.”
Pie Face believes the quality of its products is a cut above those at other convenience bakeries, he says, and it is crucial to convey that message to the public.
“One of the most important things in the short-term is to make sure the customers understand the quality of the product and how well it is made,” he says.
Store makeovers are also on the cards, Mr Waite says, with plans to refresh the image and feel of the brand.
But the most crucial revamp will be in exploring new flavours and recipes.
“Australian pallets are becoming more sophisticated and customers are already more demanding,” he says.
“They accept the pie as a food product and because of that they are going to more readily embrace new developments. It’s an advantage for us.”

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