Franchisor Mixes Emerging, Established and Complementary Restaurant Brands
Craveworthy Brands’ achievements in 2023 set the stage for even bigger successes this year within the United States’ $382 billion-plus quick-service restaurant market. Last year’s milestones for Craveworthy, an umbrella franchisor, included:
- Growing and diversifying its portfolio by acquiring Wing It On!, Genghis Grill, BD’s Mongolian Grill and Flat Top Grill.
- Activating its franchise development program for Genghis Grill, Wing It On! and The Budlong in May. As a result, more than four dozen potential franchisees are currently exploring $3.3 million in deals with these three Craveworthy brands.
- Becoming a franchisor partner of Soom Soom Mediterranean.
- Launching two new virtual brands, Pastizza and Scramblin’ Ed’s.
So what’s in the cards this year? Craveworthy Brands plans to award franchises for 125 units, acquire even more brands, open 17 corporate sites and launch 60 virtual restaurants. And within five years? By January 2029, Craveworthy Brands’ predicts it will notch $1 billion in system-wide sales from all of its restaurants, which also include Lucky Cat Poke Co. and Krafted Burger + Tap.
Craveworthy’s Priorities
Since January of 2023, Craveworthy Brands’ veteran development team has focused on enhancing processes across its entire portfolio of brands and on growing sales at all of its stores. Craveworthy’s founder and CEO, Gregg Majewski, who is the former CEO of Jimmy John’s, says the umbrella franchisor has a mission of revolutionizing the quick-service restaurant franchises by introducing unique and profitable concepts.
To continue his franchises’ march toward those goals, Majewski has beefed up his leadership team with the addition of four proven veterans. Jeremy Theisen, Craveworthy Brands’ chief growth development officer, has been instrumental in boosting all brands in the portfolio to record performance levels. Other key players who buoyed Craveworthy’s 2023 successes are Kim DeCarolis, senior vice president of strategic growth; Warwick McLaren, vice president of digital technology; and Greg Creed, former Yum! Brands CEO, who joined Craveworthy Brands’ advisory board, which guides overall strategy and decision-making.
Majewski explains that Craveworthy aimed to put together “an outstanding leadership team with more than 200 years of combined industry experience. We’ve refined every element of how these brands run, and now we’re ready to support success not only within our platform, but also in the lives of every team member, franchisee and customer. We look forward to tapping into wide-open territories and bringing the Craveworthy experience to communities nationwide.
Craveworthy’s Overriding Goal
“From day one, the guiding vision behind Craveworthy Brands has been bringing together a team and a portfolio that reflects our name – truly Craveworthy. Seeing our ideas and hard work materialize into tangible success has been remarkable. I’m excited about the new challenges and triumphs that we anticipate in 2024.”
Craveworthy Brands, which was established just a little over a year ago, is based in South Elgin, Ill. Several of its brands have received accolades for business and culinary expertise. For instance, Genghis Grill recently was named one of Franchise Times’ Top 400 Restaurant Franchisors. And Wing It On! landed on the Lunchbox Top 30 Hottest Restaurant Brands list and was awarded the title of America’s No. 1 Buffalo Sauce for a second consecutive year. Both Wing It On! and The Budlong made Entrepreneur magazine’s list of Hottest Franchise Trends going into the new year.
We are looking for people who hunger for success and are ready to plug into our platform’s systems to ignite growth and opportunity.
Craveworthy Franchisees
Craveworthy Brands is recruiting new community-minded owner-operator franchisees who are ambitious and growth-minded. “We are looking for people who hunger for success and are ready to plug into our platform’s systems to ignite growth and opportunity,” Majewski says. “Our restaurants create opportunities for their team members, who in turn appreciate Craveworthy Brands’ welcoming culture and collaborative spirit. Our goal is to create unique and craveworthy experiences every day, throughout every shift and during every customer’s visit.
“We have wide-open territories, providing huge growth potential for our franchisees. They also may expand into untapped territories,” Majewski adds. “Our complementary brands appeal to multi-unit investors who want to diversify their portfolios.
“And every franchisee benefits from the extensive support provided by the Craveworthy Brands development team. We offer site selection assistance, including data-driven analytics about customer demographics; marketing guidance; exclusive supplier and purchasing programs; restaurant-level supervision; and constant product innovation and feedback to our franchise partners. Craveworthy Brands’ customers return time after time because we offer convenient, easy digital ordering along with a loyalty program and a strong marketing engine.” For more information about franchise opportunities with Craveworthy Brands, please visit www.craveworthybrands.com/franchising.
