International Franchise Opportunities
The premier ice cream franchise is rapidly expanding around the world
Cold Stone Creamery® is an international treasure. The iconic hundreds of locations in nearly 30 international markets around the world, and the beloved ice cream franchise is actively seeking Master Franchisees in Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Europe, North America and beyond to bring the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience® to their countries.
Cold Stone Creamery is Beloved Around the World.
Take a trip to Japan, Philippines, the Middle East, or any one of the hundreds of locations where Cold Stone Creamery Master Franchisees are growing their business and you’ll discover one thing that is true everywhere you go: Cold Stone Creamery is in the business of making people happy.
The Ultimate Ice Cream Experience begins as soon as a customer walks through our doors; they’re greeted with big smiles and winning personalities, who are going to cheer them on, and amaze them with the theatricality of how we prepare their treats. There’s a reason why videos of our customer service have gone viral: where else can you see ice cream being thrown high into the air only to land perfectly in the cup or on the cone? Where else can you see employees singing and cheering with genuine enthusiasm? Our customer service is designed not only to make a great day even better, but it’s designed to make memories that last a lifetime.
Then there is our ice cream! Our super-premium ice cream has won worldwide acclaim for being made fresh in-store. As one of the pioneers of customization, Cold Stone Creamery allows customers to dream up their own ice cream treats, or choose from our wildly popular Signature Creations™.
Beyond ice cream, we also offer a wide variety of frozen yogurts, shakes, smoothies and of course, our handcrafted ice cream cakes. Cold Stone Creamery is also sensitive to the markets we enter by working with our Master Franchisees to create flavors and treats that cater to the local population.
“Ice cream is a dessert that’s loved universally,” says Eddy Jimenez, SVP of International Operations & Development with Cold Stone Creamery. “Our goal internationally is to make people happy wherever we go, and so we look for Master Franchisees who share our passion. We’ve successfully expanded the Cold Stone Creamery brand to hundreds of locations around the globe, and there are still plenty of great territories available as we continue to grow our wonderful brand across the world.”
Why investing in Cold Stone Creamery is a best-bet anywhere in the world
Franchising with Cold Stone Creamery means you’re never alone in your business, no matter where you are in the world. We’ve developed a robust international training platform, including 3-4 full weeks of education at our headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, to help make you an expert in all aspects of your Cold Stone Creamery business, and have built a dream team of professionals to assist you in everything from operations, marketing, training, logistics and supply chain that will work hard to help your business thrive.
“Our international Master Franchisees are some of the most experienced restaurant operators and retailers in the world. We believe combining our know-how in creating the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience with their unique knowledge of their country’s culture and retail community creates the best recipe for success.”
Become a Master Franchisee with Cold Stone Creamery
Cold Stone Creamery is actively seeking Master Franchisees with the following qualities and experience:
- Currently involved in Food & Beverage, Retail, or other service related business
- Currently operating multiple stores; multiple concepts a plus
- Must possess a thorough knowledge of the marketplace and have the ability to bring in a proven management team
- Have successfully introduced & developed other Food & Beverage or Retail concepts
- Fully understand import/export regulations for your country and the US
- Have enough working capital for this project
Cold Stone Creamery Master Franchise FAQS
Cold Stone Creamery is led by an executive team that has over 120 years of combined experience in the food & beverage service industry, and has helped grow hundreds of brands around the world. If you’re interested in pursuing a Master Franchisee Opportunity with Cold Stone Creamery, you’ll soon be speaking with Eddy Jimenez, SVP of International Operations & Development with Cold Stone Creamery. As a way of introduction, Eddy provides answers to some of the most common questions about Cold Stone Creamery’s international opportunity below:
What makes Cold Stone Creamery a great opportunity across the globe?
Cold Stone Creamery is a tremendous opportunity, as our passion is to provide the best ice cream in the world, served in the world’s most unique manner. Our ice cream is made fresh daily, mixed with any of dozens of delicious mix-ins, and served in a freshly made waffle cone or bowl. Our brand is tremendously flexible and we have locations of every size, from multi-story locations to smaller kiosks. Cold Stone Creamery is adapted to the local flavors of each country, whether we’re featuring our Founder’s Favorite® Creation™ in the US or Freak Shakes in Egypt.
Is there a demand for super-premium ice cream internationally?
Yes! We have inquiries from countries all around the globe every week asking us to bring Cold Stone Creamery to their homes. One of our recent openings in India had over 4000 attendees at the grand opening. We’re looking forward to similar success as we grow our brand in new countries across the world. Ice cream is universal and Cold Stone Creamery superpremium ice cream is universally craved.
How does Cold Stone Creamery retain its culture as it expands around the world?
It starts with the great staff at Kahala BrandsTM and the great Master Franchisees who sign up. The culture is one of the many factors that sets Cold Stone Creamery apart from the competition and everyone at Kahala Brands and our Master Franchisees understands that success is derived, in part, from bringing the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience to every customer. We constantly work with our master franchisees to ensure the brand’s core remains in place as they build new stores, bring in new employees and earn wonderful new customers. Our Global Business Conference, where we bring in our Master Franchisees from around the world, features the Global Creamery Cup competition. The Global Creamery Cup is an international competition where Cold Stone Creamery crew members show off their best singing, dancing and entertaining moves that help them deliver the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience.
What support does corporate provide for Master Franchisees?
From the opening conversation, the support for our Master Franchisees is non-stop. We have dedicated project managers that oversee the opening process, to dedicated training staff and Directors of International Operations. We support our Master Franchisees with product development, marketing support and business development. Our team members each have averaged over twelve years with Cold Stone Creamery and many more in the restaurant industry before that. We visit each franchisee and maintain constant phone and email communication with them.
What is the size of the investment?
It takes a strong investment to bring Cold Stone Creamery to a new country. We expect that our Master Franchisees have the infrastructure to help develop the Cold Stone Creamery brand in a new country, whether from a human resources perspective of hiring the right people to the knowledge of importing products to the capital to build out stores and populate the market. A strong Master Franchisee candidate will have a food and beverage or retail background and enough capital and resources to provide a smooth and successful launch of the brand.
What kind of support do they have to provide to their sub-franchisees?
Most Master Franchisees developed their markets via a company-owned business model. For those Master Franchisees that are awarded the rights to sub-franchise, they need to build the infrastructure that will be able to support their sub-franchisees successfully. They need to be able to identify great candidates, train them on the brand standards and help them on A to Z business plans. They need to be able to coach sub-franchisees as much on the business model as they do the brand standards. Franchisees are signing on for a big commitment and a Master Franchisee must recognize those needs and be able to help a franchisee not just be able to sell ice cream, but develop and grow their businesses.
How successful are the Master Franchisees? What makes them successful?
Several of our Master Franchisees have recently renewed their agreements as they came upon the end of the original franchise agreement term – I think that clearly demonstrates their successes. What makes them successful? Truly, it is embodying the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience®. Our Master Franchisees have learned how to keep what makes Cold Stone Creamery successful as a super-premium ice cream brand but at the same time, adapt to the wants and needs of their local customers. That could mean a different look for the stores, other non-traditional locations, new flavors and products and even expanding the brand into licensed products. Success, like great customer service, is a neverending pursuit and neither we nor our Master Franchisees ever rest on our laurels.
Click here to fill out an international franchise application. We look forward to hearing from you!