Franchising in the Gastronomic Sector
Résumé
Gastronomy and franchising have been attracting the attention of many researchers over the past few years, but up until now the subjects have been examined separately. This paper aims to explain how franchising can be applied to the gastronomic sector and how chef-franchisors can maintain their chain uniformity yet grant autonomy to their franchisees. This empirical study is based on 13 individual in-depth interviews with seven chefs and six experts in franchising within the restaurant industry, as well as with a focus group comprised of 13 franchise managers. While the common perception is that there is no middle ground between gastronomy and franchising, our findings show that there is a way for chef-franchisors to preserve the uniformity of the chain, while granting autonomy to franchisees in other aspects.