Rating Scale:

***** (5-Star): "Excellent Opportunity"
**** (4-Star): "Good Opportunity"
*** (3-Star): "Average Opportunity"
** (2-Star): "Below Average Opportunity"
* (1-Star): "Poor Opportunity"

Company:

Breadsmith

Centercourt Rating:

***** (5-Star)

Business Type:

Franchise

Description:

Hand made, hearth baked, European-style retail breadstore chain.

Mailing Address:

Breadsmith Franchising, Inc.
418 East Silver Spring Dr.
Whitefish Bay, WI 53217

Telephone:

414-962-1965

Fax:

414-962-5888

E-Mail:

BFI@breadsmith.com

Web Site:

www.breadsmith.com

Direct Link Topics:

Program Summary
Program History
Program Description
Franchise Components
Rating Summary

Program Summary:

Combine the ambiance of a Parisian bread store with recipes and baking practices that date back centuries and you have Breadsmith, European-style bread bakeries that use six-ton hearth ovens to create one-of-a-kind products.

Breadsmith is more than a bakery. It's an experience for customers in search of all-natural, low fat products that are hand-crafted in the time-honored tradition of master bakers. Each loaf of Breadsmith bread is made from scratch everyday. The process begins at 1:30 a.m. with the mixing of all natural ingredients, such as cracked wheat, bakers bran, oat bran, caraway seeds flown in from Europe and California raisins. The bread is then baked in a six-ton, $70,000 stone hearth, steam injected oven, imported from Europe. It's even, radiant heat, creates a hearty, crisp crust, without added oils, butter or fat.

Program History:

Breadsmith traces its history to 1977 when college student Dan Sterling receives his first taste of robust, European-style bread while studying in Norway. Sterling quickly learns to love the full grain flavor of these hearty breads, which are baked following time-honored practices.

Sterling returns to the U.S., graduates from the Harvard Business School, and becomes a successful entrepreneur. At age 32, while in semi-retirement, Sterling volunteers to help a local bakery straighten out its accounting. It's here that he rekindles his love of bread and sets out on a two-year journey to visit the country's top bread bakeries and teach himself how to make the best bread in America.

In 1993, Sterling opens his first bread store. It's an immediate and dramatic success. Bon Appetit ranks it one of the top bread stores in America. Breadsmith wins a medal from the International Culinary Salon. In 1994, Sterling begins to expand the business and shops begin operating in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

Program Description:

Our business concept is pretty simple. We start with top quality, world class bread. (We are on Bon Appetit's list of the Best Bread Stores in America, our bread was awarded a medal by the International Culinary Salon, and our stores have been voted "Best Of" in seven cities across the country.) If you've had some, you know the product sells itself. Next, we add top caliber people who are fanatical about bread, and truly endorse our corporate mission statement. Then we look for excellent, convenient locations where we can utilize our open-kitchen concept to put on a show for our customers.

Overall, we feel it is a very fulfilling experience. But if making lots of money or getting rich quick is your main motivation, then this probably isn't a good fit. If the idea of becoming an important part of your local community, being your own boss, creating a pleasant, caring work environment, working together with your family being part of a dynamic, growing, socially responsible company, or simply baking world class breads are appealing to you, then you should check us out further.

Franchise Components:

New Breadsmith franchise owners invest between $210,500 and $391,000 to open and outfit their businesses, which includes a $25,000 franchise fee. The investment also includes the importation, purchase and installation of a European, six-ton stone hearth oven, which, when combined with Breadsmith baking techniques, is critical to Breadsmith product quality.

In addition, Franchisees pay an ongoing royalty of 7% of gross sales in exchange for the continuous use of the Breadsmith name, logo, trademarks, recipes and operating secrets.

In addition to help with site selection, store layout and design, franchisees receive two weeks of comprehensive training at headquarters and one and one-half weeks on site that includes:

• Baking methods and practices.
• Recipes.
• Store organization and policies.
• Accounting, bookkeeping and administration.
• Hiring and training qualified personnel.
• Store marketing and promotion.

Rating Summary:

Breadsmith's Franchise Program has been rated as a 5-Star (*****) franchise offering by InterAct Concept Development Corp., a franchise and business opportunity management and marketing firm with 12 years of experience in the franchising industry.

The factors that led InterAct to assign its highest franchise program rating include high scores involving the following components:

1. Unique product base that capitalizes on handcrafted, all natural, low-fat products, many of which are proprietary to Breadsmith.

2. Unique baking process utilizing imported European hearth ovens as opposed to domestic convection ovens common to numerous franchised baking operations.

3. Focused product base and related marketing approaches designed to maximize exposure of the company's proprietary products and methods.

4. Excellent, hands-on quality control program concentrating on duplication and perfection of recipies provided by the company.