Franchise Ireland Magazine - past articles

O'Briens Sandwich Bars Franchise
November 2006

I

t’s been a strong year for O’Briens Sandwich Bars. It has triumphed at both the Franchise Marketing Awards and the MenuMasters Awards in 2006, but the business is succeeding in many other ways

You are what you eat, or so the TV food show presenters keep telling us… Healthy food is one of the most pressing issues of the day, with ‘food gurus’ such as Jamie Oliver and Gillian McKeith lining up to badger us about how we need to lose the pounds and cut down on junk food.

So gone are the days of greasy, high cholesterol meals and snacks – instead, we have foods which not only taste great, but are also good for you.

With that in mind, O’Briens Sandwich Bars, the hand cut sandwich and gourmet coffee franchise, has contributed a great deal. And this year, it was rewarded in turn, when it was judged the UK’s top operator in its culinary sector by winning the Healthy Food category of the MenuMasters Awards 2006.

But the story goes further back than that…

Number one in Ireland

When you ask Irish people to name a gourmet coffee and sandwich store, nine out of ten times they say O’Briens. With over 110 stores in Ireland, including 62 in Dublin, Ireland’s most successful franchise business has become an intrinsic part of the Irish landscape.

Third generation store concept

Last year the O’Briens senior management team launched O’Brien’s third generation store concept. A year on, like-for-like overall sales are up six per cent, impressive in a highly competitive space; overall coffee sales have shown the strongest growth, up nine per cent; and an anticipated record 80 tonnes (six million cups of coffee!) will be sold in Ireland by the end of the year, retaining O’Briens as the number one coffee house on the island.

The third generation store concept is a massive leap forward in the development of the brand. The introduction of the Clipper Organic FairTrade Tea range, organic milk, organic snacks, farm-assured roast beef, and the move towards higher quality Irish farmed chicken, ham and cheese, has meant that O’Briens’ core offering guarantees customers a healthier fresh choice.

Extending the Day

The development of the morning goods offer to include freshly baked croissants, danishes, pastries, muffins, juice and smoothie bar, hot food counter, and gourmet cake offering has extended the O’Briens franchise partner’s day, and their business. The comfortable soft warm seating, contemporary lighting and afternoon/evening home-baked cake and pastry selection has allowed O’Briens’ shopping centre and high street locations to compete effectively in a very busy market.
‘Such flexibility works as well for us as it does for our customers,’ says O’Briens chief executive Fiacra Nagle. ‘We invest in food concept research and development to ensure an innovative product and approach that is appealing and stands out from the crowd. It helps keep us fresh.’

New for winter 2006

O’Briens Organic Fair Trade Hot Chocolate, Chai Latte, O’Briens Toasted Christmas Shambo™ and the exclusive muffin range, which features three delicious breakfast muffins – honey and bran, reduced fat raspberry and peach, and lemon and poppy seed – allows O’Briens to offer their customers an exciting alternative to breakfast favourite, yoghurt crunch and luxury branded snack range.
And for O’Briens customers, who enjoy a little spice in their day, O’Briens new speciality soups – Souper Chilli Bowl, and Thai Chilli Chicken – promise to deliver a tasty alternative!

Brand direction

O’Briens managing director Fiacra Nagle was appointed to the position of CEO in January of this year, replacing the current chairperson and founder Brody Sweeney. Since his appointment he has been the driving force behind the brand development project which already is looking towards a fourth generation store concept.
Fiacra has strengthened his management team with the recent appointment of Andrew Moyes, as operations and retail director, and Mark O’Neill as finance director, who join marketing director Bernadette McCullagh, as the group continues to enhance the brand offering.

Award-winning website

O’Briens won the Best Website award at the Franchise Marketing Awards held in London earlier this year. The user-friendly, informative and interactive intranet site supports the needs of the franchise partners across the group, and its ease of access and navigation has proven to be the best in the UK. The group was also short listed in the Literature and Advertising categories.

Masters of the menu

O’Briens won the prestigious UK Menu Masters Award 2006 for Best Menu in the sandwich and coffee market, beating a host of very high profile competitors. O’Briens R&D Executive Kerry McClarkin was taken with the nine other category winners on a fact-finding mission to the food event of the year, the International food fair in Chicago.
The company was also short-listed in the Marketing category at the British Sandwich Awards for a second consecutive year.

Blanchardstown O’Briens celebrates its 10th birthday

Michael and Olive Bird, franchise partners with O’Briens, celebrated their store’s tenth birthday on Monday October 16, 2006. The Blanchardstown store is one of the most successful stores in the group, with one of the highest turnovers, footfall and customer base. What is unique to this franchise is that four of their original store members are still with Olive and Michael today. Tracey O’Brien (store manager), Geraldine Byrne, Sandra Berigan, and Alice McEntee, are at the heart of O’Briens in Blanchardstown.

‘It’s the quality of franchise partners like Olive and Michael who have helped made O’Briens so successful,’ says Fiacra. ‘Their commitment to deliver consistent customer service, good quality food, in a clean and friendly environment, coupled with their staff education programme has ensured repeated return visits from customers.’

Alice, one of Olive’s senior staff members is famous for singing to her customers, and knows her regulars well. Two local businessmen, Michael and Derek, phone in their order every other day, and Alice has it ready on the table by the time they arrive: ‘two black espresso coffees, one with a second shot of espresso, and their sandwich order,’ explains Alice.

Olive believes the key to their success is location, their staff, and timing. She adds:
‘Ten years ago, having your lunch out was a treat. Customers were only beginning to enjoy quality coffee. Enter O’Briens, with their fantastic gourmet coffee offering, and the Irish coffee market changed forever.
‘Starting out today is very different. Eating out is an everyday occurrence, and customers expect the highest quality hot drinks and food offering. My advice to an individual/business entering the coffee market is to ensure you have a good location, with a high footfall, and potential to develop the business through catering and pre-booked orders. Write your business plan, seek financial advice, but most importantly you must have a sense of humour, and a willingness to make it work. It’s a people business and you must enjoy the banter across the counter and behind the counter. Let your staff see you tackle all jobs, let no single duty be too big or too small for you, the franchise partner, or indeed the store staff member.’

Olive and Michael’s adult children have worked side by side with their parents in the business from day one. ‘The first day of our store opening, there were customers queuing outside the shopping centre to enjoy a sandwich and a coffee,’ recounts Olive.

‘We worked around the clock for the first eight days. On the evening of the eighth day, Brody Sweeney (founder and chairperson of O’Briens), Maurice Knightly, and Felicity, a store support staff member, came into the store, announced they were taking over for the weekend, and we were all to go home and rest!’