Lunch to defy the crunch
As the credit crunch leaves industry feeling the bite, one business has bitten back with a vengeance, fuelled by an appetite for culinary satisfaction, as Andrew Pelis finds out.
The sandwich lunch is big business and in South Africa, when companies order lunch, they turn to Sandwich Baron. The countryÔÇÖs leading sandwich maker started out in Alberton in 1996, when, armed with just R5,000, former self-taught restaurateur Sally JÔÇÖArlette-Joy decided to make her own sandwiches.
ÔÇ£We had small beginnings but the food was all fresh and I have always preferred to cut ingredients myself rather than have food pre-cutÔÇöI feel that makes a big difference with the taste. I based my concept on a French bread I had in the UK filled to the brim with tuna mayo and crispy salad. The food was so good that people started to enquire into running franchises and we quickly established three company stores,ÔÇØ Joy explains.
A former London resident, Joy quickly saw demand for her sandwiches rocket and began to offer franchises six years ago. Today she commands an empire of 59 stores across South Africa, employing in the region of 750 workers. On average she says that the franchisees are bringing in revenues of approximately R7.5 million every month. The company delivers over 70 different types of sandwich, with everything made to order and nothing left to waste.
While not enjoying a total monopoly, Sandwich Baron is very much the dominant force in lunchtime food and Joy continues to see her market share increase, with the biggest store now employing 18 kitchen staff and 12 drivers.
An aggressive marketing campaign has helped to grow the business nationally, with the corporate market unquestionably JoyÔÇÖs biggest target audience. ÔÇ£Roughly 90 per cent of our business comes from offices, with the other 10 per cent from public sales. Our marketing has very much aimed at the lunchtime trade, as we close at 4pm each day,ÔÇØ she explains.
Roughly two years ago, the business launched its first Sandwich Baron Express outlet, a compact store offering a slightly smaller menu and aimed at opportunist passing trade in busy malls.
However, much of the business involves delivery and Joy believes that the extra trade this brings in outweighs the rising cost of fuel. In any case, aside from fleets of motorcycles and small vans, Sandwich Baron deliveries also arrive via bicycles. Each new store starts out with five drivers, while the more established outlets may have as many as 12. ÔÇ£Delivery of orders is one of our biggest challenges,ÔÇØ Joy admits. ÔÇ£A year or so ago there was a shortage of drivers in South Africa, but with the economy suffering there are more drivers available now.ÔÇØ
As the company and number of franchises has grown, so has the need for Joy to ensure everything is standardised in terms of quality of food and service. All stores are HACCP compliant and every franchisee receives training on HACCP, obtaining certification at the end of the course.
Training is conducted independently (although Joy runs a training store) on a monthly basis and further training in customer service is a pre-requisite. Joy says training also helps to overcome cultural barriers, such as those posed by women being in charge in a store where male employees may not be accustomed to taking orders on that basis.
Sandwich Baron has introduced an initiative that has become Black Empowerment rated, offering black people the opportunity to run a business, often for the first time. ÔÇ£This has proven successful and several of the franchise owners had previously worked in stores, so after a few years of experience, they increase their chances of success,ÔÇØ Joy affirms.
Her focus on training is very much geared towards achieving a long-term goal of 450 stores across the country. Joy is very aware that she will not be able to accomplish this feat on her own. ÔÇ£My role in training has become hands-on and we are training lots of people at the moment to build up a big team that can cope with our growth. We are looking to recruit quality people and it often takes up to a year to get them to the level that we want.ÔÇØ
She adds that it is the franchisees that really set Sandwich Baron apart from its competition. ÔÇ£We have a good selection of strong individuals who work extremely hard. IÔÇÖm only as good as my franchisees and at the moment IÔÇÖm very upbeat, as our goods turnover is increasing every month.
ÔÇ£While the economic slump had a temporary effect on franchise enquiries, our prices are very much aimed at the blue collar worker, so the recession has had no real impact on our performance. Indeed, morale is very high in our group and that generates further franchise enquiries and increases revenues.ÔÇØ
One area that promises exciting growth is the advent of online orders. Around two years ago, an English company run by JoyÔÇÖs sister built a new online ordering website for Sandwich Baron. ÔÇ£At that time, we were the first food group franchise to have an online ordering system and we can process orders in just 15 seconds. Every month we are seeing broadband connectivity improve across South Africa, which can only be good for our business,ÔÇØ she states. ÔÇ£Furthermore, we have opened a social networking site on Facebook and are able to talk to nearly 6,000 customers every day.ÔÇØ
JoyÔÇÖs appetite for expansion shows no signs of letting up and her marketing budget in recent times has concentrated on ad words that focus on products like her highly regarded platters. Already she is seeing the impact of next yearÔÇÖs FIFA World Cup. ÔÇ£We are swamped with people wanting huge orders; a number of the catering companies that tendered bids cannot cope so we are getting lots of enquiries. We will be able to copeÔÇöwe already pool our resources together from different franchises when we take large orders.ÔÇØ
With her sights firmly set on expansion locally, Joy sees the UK as another market opportunity in the next 10 years. A trademark is already registered thereÔÇöbut there is plenty still to do in South Africa first.
