Want to Own Your First Melting Pot?

Want to Own Your First Melting Pot?

The fondue franchise concept offers robust franchisee support, highly-manageable kitchen processes and an appealing average unit volume to franchisees looking to break into the industry.

The Melting Pot, the 94-unit fondue experiential dining concept, has grown to be a community favorite and go-to investment opportunity for franchisees looking to grow in the restaurant space. Because of The Melting Pot’s unique offerings, it positions franchise owners well to succeed in a highly-scalable, very lucrative, yet incredibly simple business model.

The Melting Pot Is Scalable

With a robust franchisee support system in place, The Melting Pot is an incredibly scalable business. The corporate team has dedicated itself to understanding restaurant-level challenges and continually innovating and improving to offer franchisees the resources and solutions they need to succeed.

Further, because of the unique culture within the Melting Pot network, establishing a multi-unit portfolio with the brand is a relatively straightforward process. One of the most important steps in Melting Pot ownership is understanding and embracing the culture and model of each Melting Pot location. The ownership experience is not that of any other restaurant, and that is largely what makes it so special.

Once basic kitchen operations, training practices and other technicalities are understood, franchise owners can feel confident that they have the skills necessary to add new units to the network, and the corporate team will provide the support and expertise necessary to choose an optimal location for the newest Melting Pot.

A Streamlined Kitchen and Operational Model Lends Itself to Success

The nature of the fondue model allows staff to focus less on cooking and more on the guest experience. While there is a kitchen in each Melting Pot location, that kitchen and its line staff focus primarily on preparation, not involved cooking. From there, prepared food items are taken to guests at their table, and the food is cooked by the guest themselves.

This detail of the Melting Pot model creates multiple benefits for franchise owners and restaurant-level staff. Streamlined kitchen operations simplify everything, but they also decrease the challenges associated with food being sent back or improper preparation. Training for kitchen staff is straightforward, and the franchise owner does not have to devote so much attention to building a highly-skilled, specialized kitchen staff.

Instead, the owner and staff can focus more attention on creating an enjoyable guest experience, which is often beneficial for the staff as a whole. A trip to The Melting Pot is an experience, and the experiential dining model presents a slightly different set of expectations for restaurant-level staff. Often, with the right people and culture in place, this set of expectations is even easier to meet than those associated with entirely kitchen-prepared fine dining concepts.

The Melting Pot Clientele and Standard Ticket Size Encourages Low Staff Turnover

The average ticket size and unit volume at The Melting Pot are both relatively high. This, paired with the lighter, more social experience associated with serving, tends to help franchise owners retain staff quite well. The Melting Pot servers can feel confident that they will be paid adequately, and much less energy is spent on complicated order customizations or send-backs.

A low turnover rate decreases the amount of time the franchisee must spend on recruiting, hiring and training, allowing them to build a long employee tenure and even stronger restaurant-level culture.

Melting Pot Franchisees Are Community Stars

The Melting Pot is a place people and families go to celebrate — it’s simple. To many, The Melting Pot is the hero of the restaurant world, providing something that can be difficult, if not impossible, to get elsewhere.

Franchise owners who bring a Melting Pot to their communities are creating a space for other community members to gather, connect and celebrate special moments and other occasions. It’s a business that owners can be genuinely proud to own.

The total investment necessary to begin the operation of a Melting Pot restaurant franchise ranges from $1.3–$1.5 million. 

About Melting Pot

Founded in 1975, Melting Pot has offered a unique fondue dining experience for more than 45 years. As the premier fondue restaurant franchise, Melting Pot has more than 90 restaurants in 31 U.S. states and Canada. Known for offering a variety of fondue cooking styles and unique entrées, Melting Pot’s menu also features cheese fondues, salads, fine wines, spirits and chocolate fondue desserts. Melting Pot is an affiliate of Front Burner Brands, a restaurant management company headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit www.meltingpot.com.