Cooks Coffee Company Limited (AQSE:COOK) Managing Director Brendan Duigenan caught up with DirectorsTalk to discuss Esquires’ award wins, franchise-led growth strategy, and future expansion plans.
Q1: First off, congratulations on the award wins. Could you just expand on what those mean for the business?
A1: We won two awards and we’re finalists in seven on the night, so it means a lot to the business.
Firstly, it means a lot to be recognised by the Irish Franchise Association, not just by winning the awards and being finalists in seven categories, but also, it’s equally important to Esquires that we’re seen as a member of an organisation that develops and promotes franchising, and not just franchising, ethical business format franchising. We’re seen to embrace that mission and culture as a brand.
Secondly, it highlights the dedication and performance of our franchisee network and us as a franchisor for delivering on quality and consistency. It validates the customer experience and Esquires operational excellence.
Thirdly, it enhances our credibility and visibility in the market. It reinforces our position as a leading premium café franchise, and that will only help us attract a high calibre franchisee in the future.
Finally, it’s a big win for morale across the brand.
Q2: How important is franchisee-led growth to your overall strategy?
A2: Well, it’s central to our overall business strategy and I think that we do this quite well. For example, a few years ago, most of our current franchisees had one store, and now 60% of them have three stores or more. The way we look at it, and it might sound a bit obvious, is that for 10 franchisees with five stores each is better than 50 franchisees with one store each.
This strategy where we grow the existing franchisee base has allowed us to have sustainable growth by maintaining high standards and all of this is backed up, of course, by having our robust systems and processes, along with enhanced training tools and supports.
This approach is better from a head office perspective, as we can give better support without necessarily increasing our head office costs. It’s better from a standards perspective that we have franchisees that know their business. More importantly, it’s better for the franchisee because we’re creating a mutually beneficial sustainable growth model.
Now, with all said and done, we will take franchisees that only want one store, so we won’t be scaring them off so, yes, it’s definitely a big thing.
Q3: The name is out there now. You’re doing really well. How do you see the Esquires brand evolving from here?
A3: We’re going to continue focusing on delivering a premium, community-driven café experience and that’s by growing and building on existing relationships but also create new ones. Those relationships and partnerships are going to have to be with passionate local operators and we will continue to refine our store formats and support tools to ensure that we have the best customer experience and franchisee supports. We’ve done a lot over the last few years in creating the best tools for franchisees, so they spend more time front of house with their customers and with their staff than being tied up in the back of house doing those laborious tasks that happen in this business.
We’re going to have a continued focus on our sustainability and ethical sourcing. We’ve done a lot over the last few years on this, and I think it’s time to tell the story. For example, our coffee supplier, their roastery is actually the first carbon neutral roasting plant in the world, and I don’t think many people know that. So, I think it’s important that we tell that story.
We’re going to invest a lot more in food and beverage innovation, ensuring that we’re not only on top of the current trends, but also leading them. In Ireland, the food mix has gone from 45% in 2019 to 60% in 2026. So, we have to have a focus on trending, quality, nourishing healthy food. It has to be a focus.
We’re also going to spend a bit of time increasing our use of our digital tools like the Esquires app to enhance customer engagement and loyalty. We’ve done extremely well with this over the last few years. When I joined in 2019, we had a loyalty programme that had 1,500 members. Our current app has 25,000 members. So, again, just to engage with those customers and really drive that loyalty.
A priority with us is that we maintain the brand’s authenticity and warmth as we do the growth, and we put all of these new tools and processes, that we don’t lose that thing that makes us special.
Q4: Finally, what can investors expect from Cooks Coffee in the coming months?
A4: Continued expansion across the key markets. We’re doing quite well at the moment. I think ongoing brand development, that’s a box that will never be ticked, we will keep ensuring that we’re relevant.
Opening new locations. Ireland has four in the next six weeks, so we’re quite busy at the moment. We’ve got some really nice key locations, which is great to see.
There’ll be a strong focus on cost management. So, we’re going to be looking at increasing operational efficiencies to ensure that not only is the front door open to growth, but the back door is nicely closed tight, that we’re not wasting money.
And a commitment to sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value.
