How Toastique Founder Brianna Keefe Became the TOAST of the Brunch Franchise Industry!

Toastique has been continuing to make waves as our brunch franchise grows bigger and bigger! Our wonderful Founder, Brianna Keefe, was recently featured in Franchise Dictionary Magazine as an up-and-coming Franchisor, and we couldn’t be more proud! 

Franchise Dictionary is a source of news and resources for current and potential Franchise Owners and operators. Their feature on Brianna covered her story, how she founded Toastique, and the incredible success we’ve achieved in a short time. Read on for a recap of those topics, and information on the Toastique franchise opportunity! 

These ingenious toast creations would go on to help her imagine and realize a café that had these yummy toasts as well as smoothies and cold-pressed juices. Her boyfriend, Kyle Izett, who has a background in commercial construction, helped her to design and build their first location in just 40 days. That’s right- the entire time it took to build a Toastique brunch franchise location took only a little over a month, from start to finish. This wasn’t just beginner’s luck, either- Kyle and his team of construction experts were able to replicate this success for the next two franchise locations, with each Toastique being ready to open for business just 40 short days after buildout began!

Our first location generated over $1 million in sales* in the first year without any professional marketing. It’s safe to say that Brianna and Kyle’s expectations were blown away by that result!
This success meant a second location in Alexandria, Virginia, along with another D.C. location in the Navy Yard district, which has even become our most profitable location so far despite being opened at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to our easy-to-pivot model and grab-and-go menu items, COVID hasn’t fazed our brunch franchise! 

Our Stone Harbor, New Jersey location will be the next to open this year, and we couldn’t be more excited!

What is Toastique?

We’re a fresh new take on a beloved favorite. We took toast and elevated it from a classic side dish to a health-focused power meal. Our customizable gourmet toasts provide guests with a wholesome, convenient meal option that can’t be found at any other fast-casual restaurant. Along with an array of all-natural smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and açaí bowls, Toastique’s unique menu of healthy, grab-and-go meals and snacks makes us truly unlike any other health-focused franchise on earth.

Our idea is delivered in a franchise model that accomplishes some great things.  

We maximized earning potential and made $1 million in sales* our first year alone, with zero marketing. 

We minimize risk because we have a simple business model that features a quick ramp-up time, a strong potential for returns, and a low initial investment that starts at $280,000. 

We promote healthy living because our gourmet toasts, juices and smoothies are all-natural. They’re quick and healthy!

Overhead is low because our design is compact and efficient. Equipment is minimal so construction is quick and affordable. Remember, our first 3 locations were built in less than 40 days each!

And finally, we maintain multiple revenue streams because we have the potential to earn money in a number of ways – dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering. 

Why has Toastique done so well, even in a pandemic?

The pandemic brought in waves of shelter-in-place/stay-at-home orders. When we weren’t being told by the government to stay home, restaurants, cafés, and other eateries had a tough time accommodating customers because their layouts and operations had to slim down and change so much to comply with SOPs. 

We weren’t affected by these setbacks so much because of our multiple revenue stream setup. Since we offer third-party delivery, grab-and-go menu items, and online ordering, our locations didn’t just survive but thrived! We also opened a new location at the height of the pandemic. (Our ability to pivot quickly didn’t hurt either!)

Our brunch franchise locations have a small footprint that means it’s perfect for taking out. Our ideal footprint is between 1,000-1,800 square feet, in a densely populated residential area that enjoys high foot traffic. Outside seating is preferred, not only to comply with social distancing guidelines, but also to show off our beautifully presented toasts, bowls, or smoothies- some of the most effective free marketing we have!

Our health-focused menu was perfect during a pandemic, a time when people’s health concerns are high. The healthy, but fast-casual concept we have is a unique take on the very popular concept of juice bars, and so, what can we say? The love we showed our customers quickly became mutual. 

All of our ingredients are natural, made fresh in-house or sourced locally. Nothing comes out of a package because we care about being actually healthy.

Our entire brand and operations are customer experience focused, because we want our customers to love us as much as we love them and keep coming back – better yet if that’s with their friends!

 The wonderful menu items we serve are all innovative and absolutely gorgeous, which means that they’re super Instagrammable. This makes for some more lovely free advertising.

Our gourmet toast menu has something for everyone, and we are a true meal destination status different from any other more typical juice franchise. 

Do you want to join us here at Toastique?

You might think that everything we’ve said sounds amazing and that you’d love to be part of our growing family. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re interested in being a Toastique brunch Franchise Owner yourself, here are some more things you might need to know.

We’re on the lookout for strong breakfast Franchise Owners to help us expand across our U.S. market. To join us, you need to be passionate about health and wellness and have a desire to serve as an ambassador of healthy eating to your community, have a strong work ethic, drive, and determination to build a successful business, and be outgoing and friendly, with outstanding communication skills and a commitment to excellent customer service.

We also need you to have a strong business management background with experience in the hospitality or food-service industry, as these are fast-paced and you need to be able to keep up!

Lastly, you must have the spirit of a fearless pioneer, excited to trailblaze as one of the first official Toastique Franchise Owners in the country! 

What does it take to become a Toastique brunch Franchise Owner?

The amount necessary for initial investment ranges from $280,750 – $482,200, the franchise fee for a single location is $45,000, and we ask that our candidates have at least $150,000 in liquid capital and a net worth of $300K or higher. We also welcome multi-unit-minded investors, so we offer 3 and 5-pack franchise deals to qualifying candidates. You can ask our franchise Development Manager for more details on your initial call. 

If you don’t meet these requirements, we’re proud to be partnered with Benetrends, the nation’s leading small-business funding organization! You can check your eligibility on our website under “FAQ”. 

We can’t promise you a certain amount earned, but we are very proud of our outstanding unit economics and can’t wait to discuss these with you!
Our first Toastique brunch franchise location earned $1,104,698* in its first year of operations. That was with zero paid marketing or advertising, remember! Once you complete our Questionnaire and demonstrate the financial qualifications necessary, we’ll give you our Franchise Disclosure Document, FDD, that has more detailed statements and performances of our Franchise Owners. 

What is it like being a Franchise Owner?

The usual ramp-up time is 5-12 months, but we’ve completed the buildout on all three of our corporate locations in just 40 days, so you can expect a quick ramp-up with us. 

The estimated timeframe to breakeven is around 12-16 months after signing your agreement, though of course we can’t make any guarantees since this depends on your specific location. 

We recommend hiring one General Manager, 1-2 Shift Leads, and 5-8 hourly employees for your Toastique location, and expecting to have 2-3 hourly employees on each shift with your GM and one shift lead. If you choose to do so, you can act as General Manager.

We offer two different ownership options: Owner-Operator and Semi-Absentee. Owner-Operators should expect to work around 50-55 hours per week and are involved in the day-to-day operations as well as the development and management of team members. They also handle community relations and should be seen as the face of the business. Their tasks would include:

• Engaging with customers to ensure an excellent guest experience
• Preparing menu items
• Placing and receiving orders
• Hiring, training, and overseeing employees
• Managing inventory
• Reviewing numbers and projections
• Implementing marketing initiatives

Semi-Absentee Owners would hire a General Manager to oversee daily operations and only be in the cafe about 2-3 hours a day to check in. This is an ideal option for Owners looking to scale into additional locations. Their tasks would include:

• Hiring and overseeing the General Manager
• Financial goal setting and review
• Reviewing performance, including employees, marketing initiatives, and food and labor costs
• Scaling into new locations

All of our recipes are simple and can be completed by anyone, it doesn’t matter how skilled they are in the kitchen. Owner-Operators typically will assist with preparing menu items while Semi-Absentee Owners will have employees to handle day-to-day operations. Regardless, our Executive Chef will provide training on the preparation of all menu items as well as extensive recipes that guide you through every step.

We make sure that all of our Franchise Owners get hands-on training, field support, marketing support, ad ongoing support from the Founders themselves as well as our thoughtfully assembled team of experts. 

And don’t worry about your real estate buildout process either. Our CFO, COO & Construction Manager Kyle Izett is a highly experienced builder and engineer, with an extensive project management background. Kyle and his team will assist with nearly every aspect of your brunch franchise location’s real estate, construction, and design, working to get it done quickly, efficiently, and below market cost!

A fresh new take on a beloved favorite, Toastique elevates toast from classic side dish to health-focused power meal, making it an ideal brunch franchise opportunity for an increasingly health-conscious consumer base. Our customizable gourmet toasts provide guests with a wholesome, convenient meal option that can’t be found at any other fast-casual restaurant. Along with an array of all-natural smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and açaí bowls, Toastique’s unique menu of healthy, grab-and-go meals and snacks makes us truly unlike any other health-focused brunch franchise on earth.

Come visit our website for more information!

*All numbers obtained from our 2020 FDD