“We’re going at full sail and hope we will do well in France, where the food service and hotel industry is one of the highest performing of the world,” says Radu Savopol, co-founder of 5 to go, the chain with the most coffee shops in Romania. The company used the same model to expand in Romania, where it grew via partners, franchisees to be precise.
It is doing the same abroad, where it plans to continue expansion. A few more coffee shops are planned for France and UK is the next destination.
5 to go has 250 coffee shops in Bucharest and the rest of the country and has just started international expansion. The first such coffee shop opened near Piata Lahovari in downtown Bucharest in 2015. A year earlier, a Romanian doughnut brand inspired by the doughnuts in American movies, Donuterie, had opened. Donuterie has 12 shops now and plans to develop by franchising.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)