Great Harvest vs Big Dad's Pies Franchise Comparison

Pete Wakeman had been baking bread most of his life. As a child, he would help his aunt. In high school, he baked for his friends. During summer vacations, he sold bread from the roadside. In 1976, when Wakeman heard about a bakery in Great Falls, Montana, that was going under, he bought it. With the help of his wife, Laura, Wakeman established the Great Harvest Bread Co. and set about baking loaves for people in the Great Falls community. Soon, people from neighboring communities starting asking about setting up their own Great Harvest locations. The first franchise opened in Kalispell, Montana. In 1983, the Wakemans converted their Great Falls bakery into a franchise and moved company headquarters to Dillon, Montana, so they could concentrate on the franchising end of their business. Great Harvest bakeries serve a variety of breads each day including honey whole wheat, white cheddar garlic, sunflower and cranberry orange.

The total investment necessary to begin operation of a Great Harvest bakery cafe franchise in a “Hub” location is $144,100 to $704,873. This includes $35,000 that must be paid to the franchisor or affiliate.

The total investment necessary to begin operation of a Great Harvest bakery cafe franchise in a “Spoke” location is $69,613 to $447,536. This includes $15,000 that must be paid to the franchisor or affiliate.

If you want development rights, you must pay the franchisor a development fee equal to the full initial franchise fee for the first bakery cafe ($35,000) plus a deposit of $7,500 (of the $15,000 initial franchise fee) for each additional bakery cafe you agree to develop. The total investment necessary to begin operation if you acquire development rights is $151,600 to $712,373. This includes $42,500 that must be paid to the franchisor or affiliate.

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Over the last few years, Big Dad's Pies has been developing the business with an increased emphasis in establishing well-branded and easily accessed Pie Shops. National expansion plans are now a reality with the recently completed Heathwood manufacturing facility, which includes five large SNAP freezers. The SNAP freezers (a $500 000 investment), which were commissioned in December 2008, will enable products to be produced in advance and stored in the freezers so that not only will product shortage never be a problem, but now products can be delivered to stores at greater distances away from the manufacturing facility. Previously stores had to be located within a 20 km radius to the manufacturing facility to ensure a fresh product could be delivered each day. Now product can be produced, frozen and then delivered via freezer trucks to stores around Australia.

Benefits of owning a Big Dad's Pie Shop * Excellent range of products * No trade qualifications needed * Low operating costs * Strong, yet managed growth * Operate out of sites from 60m2 * Work well as both stand alone and strip mall sites without the demands of shopping centre food courts * High customer service standards * Excellent well managed branding * Upfront and ongoing training * Benefits of group purchasing * Site identification, lease negotiation & store design * Excellent support & leadership * Ready to bake products * Is a turn-key operation * Standardised products & systems * Cash based takings * Professionally developed franchise system * Comprehensive operations manual * Modern well-equipped new store * Ongoing research and development * Touch screen Point of Sale system with excellent reporting capabilities