Two more international franchises hunting for Australian opportunities

Two more international franchises, including another from the United States and a Singaporean restaurant chain, are now looking for master franchise opportunities in the latest wave of overseas businesses seeking out growth in Australia.

According to two new advertisements published this morning, aged care group ComForcare and quick-service-restaurant PastaMania are both looking for master franchise opportunities.

ComForcare, the US Commercial Services office and PastaMania were all contacted for comment this morning, but none were available to speak before publication.

The two new opportunities come just months after a wave of US franchises began seeking out opportunities in Australia in order to escape the economic turmoil back home.

ComForcare began in the American state of Michigan in 1996, and became a franchise system in 2001. It currently has over 130 locations in the United States, Canada and Britain.

Sandra Johnson is listed as the company’s chief executive.

The company has been held in high esteem, with awards from the Franchise Research Institute and Entrepeneur.com, which listed the firm as one of its top 500 franchises for 2010, as well as one of the fastest growing in the US.

The entrance of an international player in the health care field highlights the growth of such services in the medical industry as Australia’s population begins to age.

According to an advertisement on Entrepeneur.com, ComForcare requires an initial investment of $US35,000 per franchise, although the total cost reaches over $US100,000.

“The initial investment to open a ComForcare franchise is $80,000 to $115,000. This includes the $39,500 initial franchise fee and start-up costs related to marketing, insurance, furnishing a small office and other business start-up expenses,” the site claims.

ComForcare was contacted regarding whether these details would crossover into the Australian market, but no representative was available before publication.

PastaMania is based in Singapore, and claims to be one of the most popular pizza and pasta delivery services in the country. It has over 27 locations worldwide, including locations in the United Arab Emirates and around the Middle East.

The model is a quick-service restaurant with a focus on delivery speeds. PastaMania brags it has the most popular iPhone application in Singapore for ordering and delivering of pasta and pizza, with reported downloads of nearly 30,000.

Regional franchise manager Louis Malta-Bey says the company is pursuing Australian franchises due to limited successes in other nations.

“We have a concept that very much finds application in mature markets. We have expanded in regions such as Indonesia, but it has not been successful in the sense that countries with low GDP per capita is not ideal.”

“We want to UAE and Kuwait because of a relationship with a partner, and we’ve found that to be much more successful. That is the basis for entering Australia.”

The company won the 2007 Franchise of the Year award from the Franchising & Licensing Association of Singapore, with chief executive Rashid Hassan saying at the time the company has plans to expand worldwide.

“We have aggressive plans to have over 100 outlets worldwide within the next five years,” he said at the time.

According to a report in Today Online, PastaMania has recorded that mobile apps are taking up 15% of the company’s delivery sales, with internet orders taking up a further 40%.

The company’s key demographic is customers aged between 18 to 35.