Graze Craze, the world’s leading charcuterie franchise, is celebrating 2023 as a record-breaking year of growth where it nearly doubled its brand footprint, opening 35 new locations throughout the year. The brand made entry into new U.S. states including Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Nevada, and New Mexico, as well as launched international operations in Australia and France. The rapidly growing concept also signed 51 franchise agreements in 2023 and has plans to develop new locations in the coming years in key markets like Quebec, Southern California, and New England.
“I’m confident that 2023 will go down in our company history as a landmark year that set the stage for our future growth and success,” says Cory Hibbard, President of Graze Craze. “It was a banner year for our brand and our franchise owners were a mainstay of our tremendous performance. In keeping a curated convenience mindset, we’ve developed a winning recipe for success that will remain paramount as we continue to grow in 2024 and well beyond.”
In addition to its significant unit growth in 2023, Graze Craze also achieved notable sales success with Q4 marking its 10th consecutive quarter of positive growth, which has propelled the brand’s performance in the first two months of 2024. Graze Craze has already seen a 38% increase in comp sales for existing stores over 2023 and is on track to close out Q1 as another positive quarter.
Contributing to this growth was the brand’s ongoing commitment to menu innovation. Graze Craze introduced a new signature board to its menu in 2023, the Brunch Board, which allowed the brand to target and serve a new daypart and has become the perfect bagel-and-donut brunch alternative, well-received by customers and franchise owners alike. Graze Craze also rolled out several limited-time boards throughout 2023, including its Game Day Board in September and Holiday Board in November, the latter of which accounted for 27% of the brand’s systemwide sales in the month of December.
Looking ahead, Graze Craze will maintain its focus on providing its customers with curated convenience, offering catering and dining solutions that appeal to a variety of taste palettes and diets. The brand is on track to open 60 locations in 2024, 15-20 of which are projected to open in the first quarter alone. The brand is also accelerating its international expansion with the opening of its first store in Quebec in Canada. By year-end, Graze Craze has a goal to surpass 100+ locations and have an established footprint in five countries worldwide. With 175 total locations in its development pipeline to be opened in the next several years, Graze Craze is well-positioned for long-term and sustainable future growth.
“Graze Craze is aptly named because there is a definite craze around this concept, and our growth is a testament to that,” says Ray Titus, CEO of United Franchise Group, of which Graze Craze is an affiliated brand. “We only opened the first franchise location for this brand in 2022 and to be on track to surpass 100 locations by the end of 2024 really reinforces the viability of this franchise opportunity and the strong demand among consumers and businesses. With a record-breaking year behind us, we’re looking forward to 2024 being another year of explosive growth.”
Graze Craze is a part of the Big Flavor Brands foodservice division of United Franchise Group (UFG), the global leader for entrepreneurs with over 1600 franchises in more than 60 countries and 2500+ franchisees.
