The food franchise industry is booming. Everywhere you turn there’s new eat out a place of some kind. The nice part about this is that there’s variety to choose from, the downside, however, especially for franchise owners, is that this has made the industry more competitive than ever before! Despite this, some people choose to see beyond the competition, demands and challenges that come with being in this industry and confidently strive to pursue their dreams. One of these people is Charlie Du Toit, founder of CDT Hospitality and head of operations at popular food franchise, Burgerack.
Started in 2015, inspired by the heartbeat of downtown New York and the taste and flavours found on the best grills of USA, Burgerack has brought some fresh new flavour to the franchise industry in SA.
The burgers are made from scratch using locally sourced ingredients. Juicy all natural beef patties with absolutely no preservatives or additives. Grilled on an open flame then crafted wickedly to each individual order by a dedicated Burgermeister.
“We bring you mouth-watering tastes and freshness to each unique burger. We could waffle on.. but the best way to experience Burgerack is to bring your hunger and thirst to our store for a real full blown flavour experience,” the website reads.
When asked how Burgerack managed to sustain itself in this competitive and ever changing industry, Du Toit adds that distinctintiveness and knowing your market are the components that will help one run a sustainable franchise.
“What separates us from other food franchise is that we do not add any preservatives or anything to our beef mince, we just add salt and pepper to our patties and obviously the ingredients that we put on top of your burgers give us that distinctive taste,” he says.
“Know your market, have a good look and a good plan of what you want to do and what your market is in the area that you have an idea about. If you don’t investigate, it might not work. So it’s important that you investigate your market, you test your brand. It doesn’t happen in one day, you have to work on it, plan it, replan your replay to make sure that you eliminate all the mistakes you might run into,” he adds.
Du Toit’s love for entrepreneurship and the hospitality industry dates from an early age. Being exposed to the hotel and resort industry at that age, Du Toit quickly grew fond of the industry and pursued his hospitality career.
A couple of years later, Du Toit, now 35, has teamed up with the founder of Burgerack, Nicholas Binos, to start a viable franchise business that has many of South African’s taste buds tantalizing.
He credits his former mentor, Ruphus Baloyi, one of the South Africa’s renowned chefs for the contribution he made to help him kick start his career and entrepreneurial journey in the industry.
“ There’s a well-known chef called Ruphus Baloyi. If it wasn’t for him for being so hard on us when we were waiters back in the day, I wouldn’t be here, where I am today. His mentorship and the way that he spoke to us and taught us, and not in just an educational way, but the actual belief that he had within us as individuals touched us and helped us to pursue the industry more. Without him, I wouldn’t be here.”
“I also believe that as South Africans somewhere in the economy, we need to encourage and help young entrepreneurs. Get the basic guy out of the streets and ask him what his goals and dreams are. It may not be financial help, but perhaps showing them the right door of where they can get in order to clarify what they need could also be useful to them.”
Having started just five years ago, given the positive response that Burgerrack has received thus far, it’s without question that this fast-growing eat out has a bright future ahead. Du Toit adds that the franchise will be looking at penetrating international markets, particularly around the African continent.
“I do believe that I see the Burgerack franchise as one top franchise within South Africa, because of the pure craft taste that we offer. I believe that we are going far, we have a stable platform at the moment and that we are in the groundbreaking of discovering a new international market way up in the African countries,” he concludes with a smile.
Vital Stats
Featured entrepreneurs -
Age - 35
Company name - Burgerack
Year founded - 2015
Start-up funding - New franchises +- R1.8M ex vat