The background of vomFASS shop owners varies widely. What they all share is a passion for fine food and drink, an entrepreneurial mindset a solid grounding in management and customer service, demonstrated ability to manage finances, and a desire to succeed. You do not need culinary training or experience to own a vomFASS shop.
vomFASS’ marketing manual is designed to act as a guide for marketing your shop. It contains ideas and “how-to’s” for seasonal and holiday promotions. Plus, our full-time marketing manager will provide you with a grand opening marketing plan and ongoing individual consultation for such things as social media, web page, and local advertising material development.
The profitability of your vomFASS shop will depend on many factors, including the location of your shop, traffic flow, local marketing and advertising, your management and business abilities, how well you control variable costs, the receptiveness of the local market, macro-economic factors and other variables – some of which are in your control and some of which are not.
The best way for you to get an idea of what to expect as a franchisee of vomFASS is for you to talk with our current franchisees about this topic. The vomFASS Franchise Disclosure Document has information in Item #19 about the sales and product margins to assist in your evaluation.
Total costs to open the doors are estimated to be from around $350,000. There are many variables in these estimates, some under the franchisee’s control, and some are not. These estimates are based on the historical costs observed in opening vomFASS shops in the U.S. market and detailed in the franchise disclosure document.
To our knowledge there are no direct competitors to the vomFASS business model. Certainly there are oil & vinegar stores. And there are package liquor stores of all shapes and sizes. But no other business combines the two in our unique vomFASS way.
Other oil and vinegars stores around the U.S., for the most part, purchase their products from one or two distributors and suppliers. This results in the same product showing up in lots of different types of stores including grocers and discount stores. vomFASS has our own exclusive family of suppliers. This ensures our products are exclusively available only in vomFASS shops.
Beyond exclusivity, we strive for excellence in our product selection. vomFASS has long relationships with many small artisanal and family-run producers where, in some cases, we purchase their entire years’ production. Then, through our unique and proprietary process products are sealed in airtight bags. This ensures a degree of product freshness available nowhere else. Furthermore, we choose producers who are good stewards of the land and who grow, process, and handle their produce in a manner consistent with our company’s philosophy of “Only the best – always.”
Other oil and vinegar shops may have a handful of excellent products, but the ‘totality’ of their products will not come close to equaling vomFASS in growing, harvesting, and processing quality. Unlike some suppliers who offer fruit “flavored” vinegars, our fruit vinegars, the Waldburg Balsams and Waldburg Stars, are made exclusively by vomFASS from fruit wine, thus giving them a richer, fuller, more fruity intense taste and aroma.
The vomFASS experience – of “Look, Taste, Enjoy” is the cornerstone of our worldwide success and expansion – in which each and every customer tastes our products, learns about their origins, and is assisted in learning the product’s uses and applications in their cooking traditions.
Each franchise partner has a ‘protected territory.’ Your protected territory will be based upon the demographics and population of the area in which you wish to locate your vomFASS® retail store. It is our experience that the best area to locate your shop is one with a population of 50, 000 to 100,000 people with above average household incomes.
The vomFASS system is designed for qualified owner-operators who have a focus on customer service. Customer orientation is critical to our success and we feel that owners can best implement our philosophy. Multi-store operators must develop a management team that demonstrates similar qualities and commitment, but they must remain involved in the business.
Your vomFASS finance advisor will work with you to determine the best way to fund your vomFASS shop. Although vomFASS does not offer financing, we are a SBA certified franchise. This means your SBA loan for a vomFASS store is qualified for expedited processing.
vomFASS Holdings AG began its German franchise business in 1984. vomFASS USA incorporated in October 2006, opened our first store in 2007, and our first franchise in 2009.
The initial franchise fee is $37,500. Multi-unit development agreements are available for qualified franchise candidates. Our current royalty is 5% of gross sales, and up to 2% marketing fee.
All franchise candidates are encouraged to contact existing franchisee’s. This step in the discovery process is after learning the details of vomFASS by attending informational webinars and phone conversations with your franchise development guide.
Yes. There are currently four franchisee members. The franchisee advisory board is a mechanism we use to communicate with our franchisee community. However, the advisory board does not ultimately exercise any authority with respect to VFUSA or any franchisee.
vomFASS shops in the US tend to be larger than their European counterparts. They range from 800 to 1000 sq ft for the front of house with and additional 200 to 300 sq ft for storage, production and office space in the back of house. Depending on the situation, shops could be as small as 800 sq ft total.
• You get access to a proven business model.
• Pipeline of only the best products in the world!
• Help with start up and beyond.
• Buying power.
• Corporate image and brand awareness.
• Advertising.
• Name recognition.
• Reputation.
• Easier to obtain financing.
• Training.
• Ongoing support.
• Protected territory.
• Possible to own multiple locations.
Every business is unique and it is impossible to determine with accuracy the number of employees you will need to hire. Existing franchisees have an average of two full- and three part-time employees.
