Q1. Brief us on the origin and concept of ‘Dulce Cafe’?
The first Dulcé retail store was opened in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1984. Dulcé soon became synonymous with a high quality ice-cream product in the Eastern Cape. After numerous requests from people wanting to set up replicas of the store, the Dulcé Café Franchise Operation was established in the early 1990’s. By 2003, over 25 more stores were opened in South Africa. After a management buyout of the Franchise in 2001, the real Dulcé Café Franchise of today was born — a unique blend of restaurant and coffee shop, serving food, liquor, coffee and desserts.
Q2. When and how did the brand enter India?
Dulce has collaborated with ITPL Hospitality Ventures in India with a master franchise agreement signed in October 2015.
Q3. Kindly share the brand’s expansion plans in India. Where do you already have presence?
Currently, Dulce Cafe has extensive presence in South Africa, where the brand originated. It also has outlets in other countries across Africa and the Middle East. Expansion plans are underway for European and South East Asian markets.
We aim to have over 40 outlets across India in the next few years, with a mix of company-owned and franchisee-owned, company operated outlets.
Q4. What is the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of the brand?How is your brand different from your competitors?Dulce has captured a niche in the market by placing ourselves strategically between a restaurant and a coffee shop, classifying ourselves as a continental café or espresso bar in the true European tradition by serving four major products, namely, food, liquor, coffee and ice-cream.
Q5. What kind of back end and front end support would you provide to your franchisees?
We are working on the FOCO model (franchise owned, company operated), as such, ITPL India will take care of all aspects of operations. This includes vendor management, menu engineering, training; food cost control, as well as day-to-day operations.