How The Melting Pot Is Dominating the Experiential Dining Industry and Poised for Growth with Franchisees

The Melting Pot, the 94-unit fondue franchise, has grown to be synonymous with fondue dining since its founding in 1975. Now, it is dominating the experiential dining space and continues to stand out among a host of other far less memorable food concepts. 

CEO Bob Johnston and Franchise Growth Strategist Collin Benyo joined 1851 Publisher Nick Powills to discuss the brand’s 2023 growth trajectory and how existing franchisees can continue to scale.

Current Franchise Development Efforts and the State of the Market

In recent years, The Melting Pot leadership team has been intently focused on supporting existing franchisees through challenging times rather than funneling energy into franchise development. As the system reconciled with the consequences of the pandemic, which was especially hard on the food service sector, franchisees received the high-level support they needed to achieve and maintain a strong baseline despite market difficulties.

“I don’t view what we did as all that extraordinary — it was the only choice,” Johnston said. “It was frightening for everyone. It was natural for us to say, ‘There’s only one job for us to do here,’ which was to help franchisees not just get through this, not just survive by the skin of their teeth, but figure out a way to leverage the strengths of the brand to thrive.”

Now that many of the moving parts have been more clearly defined and processes are running smoothly, existing franchisees are expressing interest in reinvesting to expand to additional restaurants, and the leadership team is riding that momentum in an effort to bring in additional external interest, as well.

The Melting Pot has recently worked to leverage data from OpenTable to better inform its development efforts. OpenTable data has revealed that, in some markets where there are already Melting Pot restaurants, there is excess demand. By noting the number of available reservations and other consumer habits, the leadership team can glean a more complete understanding of where demand lies.

While the brand is taking note of these trends, Johnston says the team is still focused on penetrating brand new markets.

“Not that we would never put a Melting Pot in a market where we already exist, but our focus is to grow the footprint of the brand — more awareness in more markets,” he said. “But this data is telling a very encouraging story. People are interested at record levels in the brand.”

The Melting Pot’s Approach to Franchisee Support

Much like a family, The Melting Pot franchise network truly works together to seek solutions to common challenges. Though there are occasional disagreements within the system, the leadership team has worked diligently to create a structure that allows franchisees to be heard and encourages the entire network to embrace a collaborative approach.

“We have a strategic partnership committee. These are franchisees — the best of the best — who are elected by their peers to come and talk with us directly about charting the growth of the brand and finding ways to broaden awareness about the brand,” Johnston added. “That’s mission one. What this is really about is making more people aware of the brand so that everyone involved with it, all stakeholders, can win at a higher level.”

How The Melting Pot Stands Out

As the franchise grows, The Melting Pot is bringing its fondue eatertainment to communities nationwide. Unlike other, more common, food service models, The Melting Pot is virtually in a league of its own. 

Though growth brings an occasional challenge, Johnston says the process of working through these hurdles is what makes the system even stronger. Over the years, as it has navigated decades of market changes and a range of unexpected circumstances, the concept continues to come out on top.

“When we strengthen the brand by penetrating markets, we all win at a higher level,” Johnston said. “There was a time when someone was trying to ride on our coattails. There was another fondue concept that was imitating us and going into markets ahead of us and attempting to lock out our brand. Because of the great job that franchisees did, supported by the restaurant support center, we won that battle.”

“Not a lot of brands can say that they are the only ‘fill in the blank,’” he continued. “But when you think about a fondue restaurant dining and entertainment experience, there is only one brand that comes to the consumer’s mind, and that’s us. We have to work hard to grow our footprint so that remains to be the case.”

The Future of the Brand

The Melting Pot’s place in the market allows it to support both new owners in entering the system and scaling, as well as existing owners expanding their investments. Among restaurant goers as a whole, far beyond just those interested in fondue, The Melting Pot consistently rises to the top.

With this in mind, the leadership team is supporting owners in whatever path their entrepreneurship may follow. Whether they aim to add additional restaurants in the future or are simply looking for a strong exit, the franchise model positions them well to build a successful business. Further, The Melting Pot continues to speak with excited prospects who, when added to the system, will drive success and value for owners far beyond themselves.

“I know the blood and the drive are in these franchisees. The real priority is to find franchisees that are ready to grow with vigor and energy,” Benyo said. “The people we talk to are candidates we are happy to be talking to for growth.”

Looking toward the next two years, Johnston says he is looking forward to phasing in a renewed focus on expanding the footprint. Though this effort has taken a back seat in recent years as the leadership team has pivoted toward supporting existing owners, he is clear that one of the most rewarding aspects of his work is to support individuals in achieving their dreams of business ownership.

“What I want is to see everybody win,” Johnston said. “And I mean that sincerely.”

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/meltingpot/info. 

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