RAYMOND PIROUZ

Author, consultant and lecturer

The whole point of a locavore restaurant is to offer an experience unique to a local market. Therefore, standardization for the purpose of replication across other markets is not the way to think about an expansion strategy. NGC’s Court Desautels likely understands this dynamic and the implications it has on Borealis’ business model. A locavore restaurant chain should not have a common menu across the country.

The good news is that an expansion strategy is not entirely off the table, but it must be approached carefully to achieve optimum results. Since menu items cannot necessarily be transported from one local market to another due to supply and other issues (such as customer perceptions related to local offerings), what remains is the core of the brand promise.

In other words, the restaurant’s unique brand, positioning, interior design and customer service offering can be expanded across various markets so long as there is a strong system in place and so long as that system clearly positions the brand as one that caters to local tastes such that a customer can (and ought to) expect that the location in Fraser Valley, B.C., will serve a different menu than that in Southwestern Ontario.

The Borealis brand already exhibits some of these traits: it is “Obsessively Local.” Let’s put into action those very two words that are already part of the experience. Each new location should be unique and feature only the products from that area, or within a 100-mile radius. Borealis has developed an “operating system” for a locavore chain of restaurants. This is what is unique and should be replicated.

There are obvious challenges inherent in such an expansion strategy: the lack of menu standardization and the need to manage procurement and staffing practices unique to each location. If the management challenge proves overly complex, another approach is to use a franchise model where each location is managed internally and overseen by the master brand for positioning and big picture vision.