Kiwi company takes over big coffee brands

Café Coffee & Bakery Systems (NZ) Ltd has acquired the master franchises for Esquires, BB’s Café, The Coffee Guy, Cafe2U and Brumby’s Bakeries from Retail Food Group, the Australian listed company which is one of the world’s leading food franchisors.

The move was completed in January and marks a new era for the brands in New Zealand, which have previously been controlled from Australia. Café Coffee & Bakery Systems (CCBS) has over 100 franchisees and 9 company-owned outlets in New Zealand.

Andrew Morgan, the man behind CCBS, knows the brands well, having been General Manager NZ for RFG for the past 15 months. Originally from Waikato, Andrew has worked in franchising on both sides of the Tasman for over 25 years.

‘The past few years have been challenging for everyone in the food retail sector,’ Andrew Morgan told Franchise New Zealand magazine. ‘RFG recognised that New Zealand customers and franchisees would best be served by having a national master franchisee who could focus solely on the growth of the brands in the local market, rather than just adapting what was happening in Australia.

‘We started to apply that approach over the last year with the launch of our new-look Esquires outlets, which have really hit the spot with our customers and provided a bright, fresh look in the café space. That’s continuing to roll out across the network, and soon we’ll be launching a new evolution of the popular Brumby’s brand, too.

‘Our focus is to re-invigorate all our long-established café brands and see them grow again in New Zealand, as well as capitalise on the huge success of our mobile operations, The Coffee Guy and Cafe2U.’

RFG will continue to support the franchises in New Zealand as the new structure is established, including retaining its Caffe Coffee Roasters business located in Auckland which provides special blends for its franchised brands as well as other operations.

The new owners

Andrew Morgan has a long history in franchising, having started with McDonald’s in Hamilton in 1990. He rose to become first store manager then regional manager with the brand, before becoming a pioneer franchisee with Noel Leeming for five years. He was then recruited by Fastway Global, one of New Zealand’s largest home-grown franchises, to restructure the company’s operations in the Waikato then Brisbane and improve profitability for more than 100 franchisees. Following spells in convenience store and auto retailing, he returned to New Zealand in 2014 to head RFG’s operations here. He is owner and Managing Director of CCBS with his wife Greta.

‘I have a great team of passionate and engaged people working with me,’ says Andrew. ‘We have retained a significant portion of the NZ franchise team, who saw the same potential as I did, so for the large part it’s business as usual for the network.  At the same time, there’s a lot of new energy and enthusiasm. We’ve already seen three re-sales being processed in the first two months of operation and we’re planning to open new outlets, too, as the right people and right sites become available.

‘I think everyone feels that there’s a bright future ahead. We’re managing changes and working collaboratively with our Franchise Advisory Council to develop new ideas, support and grow profitability across all of the brands.  Our franchisees are responding with enthusiasm as we re-invigorate the business.

‘All this means that you can expect to hear a lot more of Esquires, BB’s Café, The Coffee Guy, Cafe2U and Brumby’s Bakeries over the next year.’

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