The Story of Ramen is an experiential franchise where customers make bowls of ramen from start to finish.
The Story of Ramen starts at the beginning. The emerging experiential brand teaches customers the art of making ramen broth, cooking the noodles and customizing their dishes with various add-ins. In the end, customers taste their creations and walk away with a new skill.
“In today’s environment, the whole idea of people wanting to experience food rather than just simply going out to buy something is what’s driving the interest,” said co-founder Jeff Parsons. “The experiential food is really driving interest.”
Founded in 2019 by Parsons and Manville Chan, the two used their mutual love of cooking and desire to share it to start the company. Story of Ramen offers two different classes: a two-hour and a four-hour course—a short timeframe given the 12 to 14 hours it takes to make ramen broth.
“I just happened to love to cook,” said Chan. “I entered a ramen-making class and the next thing I knew everyone was enjoying making ramen, so it turned from a hobby into a business.”
Using some kitchen show magic, Story of Ramen teaches students to make broth and has some at the ready to taste the final product.
That broth is the main feature of the four-hour class, though the chefs have broth prepared ahead of time so students can make the rest of the dish. From there, the classes are essentially the same with patrons learning how to prepare the rest of the toppings and noodles.
“Ramen is a such a beloved food around the world,” said Parsons. “Over time, many people learned how to make pastas at home, but ramen remains a little elusive for people.”
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Experiential franchises took off after the pandemic shutdowns were lifted. Another advantage is the reduced overhead. Instead of serving hundreds of customers a day, Story of Ramen makes broth and ramen only when it has a class coming. It doesn’t need wait staff; just a teacher and someone to do prep work. Its initial investment starts at $117,000.
“We have a business model where we control our costs, we control all our business expenses,” said Parsons. “It becomes much more manageable as a small business as opposed to some large conglomerate.”
At its location in San Francisco, customers often express interest in opening their own locations. Interest in the brand spread organically over social media, as taking photos and videos during class is encouraged. Customers who have attended a class for corporate events, later return with family and share the experience, Chan said.
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During the pandemic shutdowns, instead of in-store classes, Story of Ramen shipped kits and hosted classes over Zoom to remain in operation. Cities that had a lot of orders are the first on the expansion list. Chan and Parsons are working with consultants and building the tech stack to help them prepare for franchising in California and beyond.