TCBY and Mrs. Fields Making India a Little Sweeter

Namaste! Our trip to Delhi, India was amazing. We attended the Master Franchise Show, which was sponsored by Franchise India. This show is very similar to the Multi Unit Franchise show we offer here in the US. The India show had 800 attendees, representing a powerful group of master franchisors. TCBY and Mrs. Fields were the only American brand in attendance. The attendees loved our dual branding concept!

As mentioned in my last post, we strongly believe in immersing ourselves in the local culture and learning from their master franchisors when we are expanding into a new country. This trip afforded us the opportunity to vet master franchisors and develop business relationships with those who have direct experience introducing US food brands and also have strong manufacturing and real estate site selection experience in India. These elements are hugely beneficial to a successful launch and ongoing success in the country.

While in India we were fortunate to tour various stores and observe in a very hands-on way their daily operations. This is invaluable information to aid us in better understanding the market to enable us to create an experience that appeals to the local people. Along these same lines, we also researched opportunities to extend our product line beyond frozen yogurt and freshly baked cookies to further appeal to the consumers in India who we learned are very health conscious. Looks like India will be the next county to make TCBY their country’s best yogurt!