The FINANCIAL — Artisan bakery chain Entrée increased sales by 27% and EBITDA by 137% in 2012. Last year was another successful year for the company.
“There were no negative impacts on our business from the political changes happening in the country. Our customers are mainly from the upper medium and premium classes of the population so perhaps that is the reason,” Jean Michel Charles, co-founder and partner at Entrée, told The FINANCIAL.
The bakery chain Entrée, known as a “French island” among Georgians, will soon open its doors in Neighbouring countries. “From the very beginning we assumed Entrée would one day become an international chain and not only be a local business which is the reason we are carefully observing several cities abroad. Entrée will soon go international but where the first Entrée shop will open abroad remains a surprise for now,” said Charles.
Entrée is European style bakery chain born in Tbilisi in December 2008. The coffee bars of Entrée are an original concept with a solid image of a smoke and alcohol free establishment for the whole family to enjoy due to its high international standards.
Entrée also has its own takeout packaging for all products including hot drinks, soups and salads which allow you to taste all Entrée’s delicious and healthy products anywhere: at home, on the move, in the office as well as at an Entrée coffee bar itself. The company also delivers food for its corporate clients in the HORECA sector.
“We don’t provide a delivery service to the retail sector, we believe that this is an absolutely new direction which must be explored in a correct way. Besides, we have exclusive shops and our scale of production is quite limited to start a delivery business at the moment,” Charles said.
Entrée recently updated its pastry menu. The company is presenting a new assortment of cakes which are of a very high culinary level. “The assortment of pastries that will soon be on offer to our customers are new in the global confectionery sector. We always offer something up-to-date to our customers and that’s why inviting a pastry chef to Tbilisi who was named World Champion in a confectionery competition in 2011 can be considered something very prestigious for the Entrée team and its reputation. In about ten days we will be pleased to be offering these new confectionery ideas to our customers,” Charles said.
Charles explained that as people visit Entrée on a daily basis, frequent updates are necessary to avoid customers getting bored with the menu. “As well as that, the world food industry is very dynamic and is always offering different advances. We always keep our eye on emerging trends and try to integrate them properly into our cuisine.”
In regard to the well-known saying “you are what you eat” Charles describes Entrée customers as people who first of all value their health. “They are modern and live very dynamic lifestyles; they do not have much time to spend on their breakfast or lunch and that is why Entrée is such a great place for them to either eat indoors or get something to take away with them as we are offering everything in very convenient packaging, all freshly prepared and certainly very healthy, which is the number one rule for Entrée customers.”
Promoting and offering a healthy lifestyle through its food and environment is one of the main goals of Entrée. “Entrée is an enemy of junk food,” he stated.
“We opened our first shop in 2008 which was back in the day when everybody smoked and there were no restrictions in restaurants, hotels or other public places in Tbilisi. To announce that Entrée was a smoke free space was a very big risk for us; we even ran a survey to measure the possible negative impact a smoking restriction could have – the figures were alarming! Despite all that though, from the very first day of Entrée’s business our shops have been smoke and alcohol free zones; we strongly believe that the environment where we bake our bread must be healthy, customers have to be able to smell the freshly prepared products.”
“As for the mania surrounding fast food I can assure you that Entrée is one of the biggest enemies of this kind of junk food. What we offer our customers is always very healthy and fresh, even the takeaway packaging we are using is ecological. One of the main reasons we are popular today is exactly because of our strong belief in healthy living. People have to understand that any success they want to achieve in their lives must be backed up by their being in good health,” said Charles.
“We have a very well balanced assortment, which is key to our success. We start at 8:00 a.m. every day and offer wonderful breakfast, lunch, brunch or pastry options for people’s enjoyment. We serve soup of the day in winter and various ice cream specialties in summer. We offer fruit and vegetable hot as well as fresh dishes which can be easily transported. We are not just a bakery where one can buy fresh bread, coffee and ‘viennoiserie’, but a well-balanced, premium, healthy fast food shop operating in two formats – sit-in and takeout.”
As French culture is well known for its traditional cuisine Charles explained what makes French cuisine so special. “French people treat cookery in a very interesting way, we consider food the same as art; we consider those who cook artists. There are so many ways to prepare any dish that it just depends on your creativity and inspiration. This attitude is what makes our cuisine one of the most sophisticated in the world,” he said.
In 2012 Entrée opened its sixth shop, on Marjanishvili Avenue. To become more profitable and to grow organically are the company’s plans for 2013.
