Flowers, move over for fruit. Wallingford-based Edible Arrangements is on the move and is expanding its reach into the Middle East, opening its first store in Dubai and preparing to add others in the United Arab Emirates.
In nine years, the company has grown from one store in East Haven to 25 stores in Connecticut and more than 800 worldwide. It’s aligned itself with national brands like Disney and Nickelodeon to beef up the variety of its offerings. And it’s using the company’s patent-pending franchise management software to launch yet another endeavor: Netsolace.com.
While flower franchises have flourished for decades, Edible Arrangements is proving there’s plenty of room in the gift-giving industry for decorative — and nutritious — arrangements of fruit.
Most recently, the company just launched its first national TV advertising campaign aimed at increasing awareness of its brand in U.S. markets it hasn’t yet tapped.
Edible Arrangements has come a long way since Chief Executive Officer Tariq Farid started the company in 1999 after careers in both the floral and computer industries.
“The concept [of Edible Arrangements] has been around for a while,” Farid said. “But we kind of used our floral experience to start coming up with some designs.”
In 2001, the company started selling “master franchises,” or franchises not of individual stores but of territories that the owner can build out at his or her own pace.
Middle East Market
The newest master franchise for the company is in the United Arab Emirates. It includes a new store in Dubai and may soon expand into potential markets in Qatar and Kuwait.
Although there are relatively few corporate stores owned by Farid, he said he still plays a big role in the store setup process for the franchisees. It involves lots of trips, lots of training and lots of localizing products and marketing materials.
“We have to study the market,” Farid said.
Certain markets need cultural and product modifications, he said. For example, dates are an important part of life in the UAE, so that fruit must be added to that franchise’s arrangements.
But consistency throughout all Edible Arrangements franchises is critical to maintaining the sanctity of the brand, Farid said.
“It’s very easy for people to start taking it a little to the left, a little to the right,” he said, adding that at times he has to “go there and slowly and meticulously massage and bring them back [to the company standards].”
To assist Farid in managing his franchises and preserving the Edible Arrangements brand, he’s developed computer software to facilitate training, store management and point-of-sale operations. He’s also created a franchise management system called Socket Fransupport, which allows corporate offices to disseminate marketing and advertising materials to individual franchises.
“The most important thing in franchising is support and consistency,” Farid said. “You try to make it as turn-key for the franchise as possible.”
New Software Biz
That internal effort has created another business for the not-yet-40-year-old entrepreneur: Netsolace.com. The Web site peddles the company’s patent-pending software to other franchise operations. Currently, it services Edible Arrangements and its off-shoot business, Frutation, which offers fruity snacks for customers on the go. It has also attracted another client, Salad Creations.
“We have some great technology,” Farid said. “And it’s tested.”
While the company is looking at potential markets in Asia and the Middle East, Farid said, its top priority for the immediate future is to grow the brand in the United States.
“The focus is to give more offerings to the 800 stores we already have,” Farid said.
That growth includes licensing agreements with national brands like Disney and Nickelodeon. Now, the company has access to popular children’s characters, like Sponge Bob Square Pants, to expand its arrangements line for children.
“It’s been very, very, very successful,” Farid said. “We will grow it a lot more by the end of this year.”
