For five decades, Melting Pot, the iconic fondue franchise, has been a premier destination for celebration and connection, uniting guests around memorable dining experiences and genuine conversation. Leveraging the association with special events, Melting Pot has developed a strategic seasonal cadence that creates year-round momentum for franchise owners.
“Most restaurants are busy from January to June because there’s always something to celebrate,” said Carmen Murillo, senior director of marketing. “Our restaurants are always busy during the first six months between Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and graduations. There can be a decline until we reach the winter holiday season, and we’ve developed strategies to combat this and maintain stability for our owners.”
These strategies include promotions like Forever Fondue, Melting Pot’s abundant entree offer, which launches on Father’s Day and runs through July 31st, helping to address the summer slow-down some restaurateurs may expect.
Now, with the Forever Fondue promotion reliably launching in the summer months, guests have come to expect the offer, and traffic associated with Forever Fondue is also a reliable stream of income for franchisees.
“All of the planning starts with our annual brand summit,” Murillo said. “Franchisees are part of the planning, along with our trusted agency partners on the food and beverage side, as well as our creative, digital and media partners. It’s a ‘surround sound’ approach to getting input on trends in the food, beverage and media industries, and we take those insights and run with them for our future strategies.”
After collaborating to identify promotions that will remain relevant to guests without exceeding the operational bounds of local teams, Melting Pot consumer-tests the concepts with its Club Fondue database of over two million subscribers and externally with look-alikes to reach new people who look like our target profile.
“Once the campaign is fully developed, we put it back into restaurant testing to see if the ‘final’ version still resonates with consumers,” Murillo said. “If it does, it ends up being a part of our innovation pipeline where we work with our chef and research and development team to ensure that the ideas are operationally, financially and consumer-sound.”
Once a concept has been approved by all stakeholders, it is entered into the pipeline to launch system wide.
In addition to national initiatives, franchisees are supported in tailoring their businesses to local communities.
Chris Millsap, a long-time Melting Pot franchisee and member of the Strategic Partnership Committee, emphasizes the value of addressing specific market dynamics.
“All Melting Pot restaurants can be seasonal in their own way,” Millsap said. “Some owners may see guest declines in the summer. However, I operate a location in Pittsburgh which, for whatever reason, sees an uptick in business in the summer.”
After operating in a market for a year or two, franchisees can get an idea of the trends in their own markets and further dial in marketing and promotions.
“Every market in one form or fashion is going to have some sort of down period,” Millsap said. “Once you’ve recognized when that period is, you figure out the way to make a call to action to get the guest in the door.”
In some cases, this may mean offering strategic discounts or other attractive promotions to get a guest in the door. Millsap explains that, even if one particular instance may not be the highest profit margin situation, it can be worth making the investment now to gain a fan long-term.
“I would rather have my seats filled and give guests the Melting Pot experience, even at a discount, because my belief is that we’ll win that guest over,” he said “If you come in, we can prove that we’re something special, and you’ll come back again next time — probably in peak season.”
This strategy has its place, but Millsap stresses that knowing when not to discount the experience is equally important. In peak seasons like January through June and during the winter holidays, franchisees can focus on expanding capacity rather than offering deals.
“We may look for off-day perks like opening for lunch at certain points during a month or doing a brunch offering,” he said.
For franchisees, having a voice in brand decisions is a crucial advantage of the Melting Pot system. The Strategic Partnership Committee, which consists of five franchisees representing various regions across the U.S., serves as an intermediary between the corporate office and the franchise community.
“We serve as a sounding board, of sorts, between the corporate office and the franchise community,” Millsap said. “They present general ideas to us, we give our feedback, and we present ideas from the field that they can hear. Both sides provide a unique, and needed perspective, and we help create a bridge between both parties to help build out a strong plan.”
This structure ensures that franchisees have input on key initiatives while maintaining brand consistency across the system.
For prospective franchisees, Melting Pot offers a business model that combines the power of national marketing with the flexibility to address local market conditions. Through carefully planned seasonal promotions, collaborative development processes and a commitment from all sides to creating memorable dining experiences, Melting Pot has created a system where franchisees can succeed year-round.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/meltingpot/info.
Melting Pot
SPONSORED
With a collaborative planning process, seasonal campaigns and elevated franchisee support, Melting Pot helps owners maintain steady business year-round.
For five decades, Melting Pot, the iconic fondue franchise, has been a premier destination for celebration and connection, uniting guests around memorable dining experiences and genuine conversation. Leveraging the association with special events, Melting Pot has developed a strategic seasonal cadence that creates year-round momentum for franchise owners.
“Most restaurants are busy from January to June because there’s always something to celebrate,” said Carmen Murillo, senior director of marketing. “Our restaurants are always busy during the first six months between Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and graduations. There can be a decline until we reach the winter holiday season, and we’ve developed strategies to combat this and maintain stability for our owners.”
These strategies include promotions like Forever Fondue, Melting Pot’s abundant entree offer, which launches on Father’s Day and runs through July 31st, helping to address the summer slow-down some restaurateurs may expect.
Now, with the Forever Fondue promotion reliably launching in the summer months, guests have come to expect the offer, and traffic associated with Forever Fondue is also a reliable stream of income for franchisees.
“All of the planning starts with our annual brand summit,” Murillo said. “Franchisees are part of the planning, along with our trusted agency partners on the food and beverage side, as well as our creative, digital and media partners. It’s a ‘surround sound’ approach to getting input on trends in the food, beverage and media industries, and we take those insights and run with them for our future strategies.”
After collaborating to identify promotions that will remain relevant to guests without exceeding the operational bounds of local teams, Melting Pot consumer-tests the concepts with its Club Fondue database of over two million subscribers and externally with look-alikes to reach new people who look like our target profile.
“Once the campaign is fully developed, we put it back into restaurant testing to see if the ‘final’ version still resonates with consumers,” Murillo said. “If it does, it ends up being a part of our innovation pipeline where we work with our chef and research and development team to ensure that the ideas are operationally, financially and consumer-sound.”
Once a concept has been approved by all stakeholders, it is entered into the pipeline to launch system wide.
In addition to national initiatives, franchisees are supported in tailoring their businesses to local communities.
Chris Millsap, a long-time Melting Pot franchisee and member of the Strategic Partnership Committee, emphasizes the value of addressing specific market dynamics.
“All Melting Pot restaurants can be seasonal in their own way,” Millsap said. “Some owners may see guest declines in the summer. However, I operate a location in Pittsburgh which, for whatever reason, sees an uptick in business in the summer.”
After operating in a market for a year or two, franchisees can get an idea of the trends in their own markets and further dial in marketing and promotions.
“Every market in one form or fashion is going to have some sort of down period,” Millsap said. “Once you’ve recognized when that period is, you figure out the way to make a call to action to get the guest in the door.”
In some cases, this may mean offering strategic discounts or other attractive promotions to get a guest in the door. Millsap explains that, even if one particular instance may not be the highest profit margin situation, it can be worth making the investment now to gain a fan long-term.
“I would rather have my seats filled and give guests the Melting Pot experience, even at a discount, because my belief is that we’ll win that guest over,” he said “If you come in, we can prove that we’re something special, and you’ll come back again next time — probably in peak season.”
This strategy has its place, but Millsap stresses that knowing when not to discount the experience is equally important. In peak seasons like January through June and during the winter holidays, franchisees can focus on expanding capacity rather than offering deals.
“We may look for off-day perks like opening for lunch at certain points during a month or doing a brunch offering,” he said.
For franchisees, having a voice in brand decisions is a crucial advantage of the Melting Pot system. The Strategic Partnership Committee, which consists of five franchisees representing various regions across the U.S., serves as an intermediary between the corporate office and the franchise community.
“We serve as a sounding board, of sorts, between the corporate office and the franchise community,” Millsap said. “They present general ideas to us, we give our feedback, and we present ideas from the field that they can hear. Both sides provide a unique, and needed perspective, and we help create a bridge between both parties to help build out a strong plan.”
This structure ensures that franchisees have input on key initiatives while maintaining brand consistency across the system.
For prospective franchisees, Melting Pot offers a business model that combines the power of national marketing with the flexibility to address local market conditions. Through carefully planned seasonal promotions, collaborative development processes and a commitment from all sides to creating memorable dining experiences, Melting Pot has created a system where franchisees can succeed year-round.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/meltingpot/info.
Sign up for the 1851 Franchise newsletter to get our biggest stories before everyone else
By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy.
No related articles found
