Crêpe Delicious fills untapped niche

THORNHILL, ON—With just 15 locations, Crêpe Delicious is already Canada’s largest chain selling the thin French pancake.

It didn’t take much for founder Oded Yefet to capture the crepe market after leaving Israel, where he owned his own catering business for 10 years.

“When I moved to Canada, I was looking for something that would be new to the market in Canada. In Canada, they care about what they are eating and they want good food, but they also want it to be healthy,” Yefet said.

As well as 25 different varieties of breakfast, entrée and dessert crepes, the menu also offers panini sandwiches and salad and a modest kids menu of pizza and grilled cheese.

Yefet said the freshly made, healthy, and locally sourced ingredients are what sets Crêpe Delicious apart from other fast-food restaurants.

The first Crêpe Delicious opened in Vaughan Mills, north of Toronto, in 2004.
Success was almost immediate, so Yefet started franchising his concept the following year, when the location in Sherway Gardens opened in west Toronto.

There are now 14 franchised outlets scattered around the Greater Toronto Area, as well as Waterloo and Burlington, Ontario, Rocky View, Alberta, Coquitlam, British Columbia, and the first international location, in Urbana, Illinois.

Yefet said he plans to expand his company to more than 100 franchised locations in Canada, mainly in Ontario. But the rest of the country is also on the radar, including Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In 2011, three locations will open in both British Columbia and Alberta.

Future outlets will be a mix of enclosed mall locations, streetfront and standalone outlets, and some combined with Yefet’s newest concept, Froshberg Gelato, which opened its first outlet in the Bramalea City Centre this past September.

Western Canada is the focus for Froshberg Gelato, Yefet said, to take advantage of the healthier diets and more active lifestyles of residents in places like Vancouver and Calgary.

By the end of 2011, Yefet wants to have 15 franchised Froshberg Gelato stores in operation, with a total goal of 100 outlets in Canada.

Down the road, Yefet said he wants to explore an expanded Crêpe Delicious/Froshberg Gelato concept with table service, expanded food menus, alcohol and dessert.