Charcuterie concept Graze Craze is on the fast track for growth this year.
Graze Craze’s new president, Cory Hibbard, is hard at work overseeing an aggressive growth plan. Utilizing the knowledge he’s obtained in his time with United Franchise Group, the brand is finding its place in a niche market and setting its sights on expansion.
“What gives us comfort about the staying power and the long-term opportunity here is charcuterie has been around for hundreds of years,” said Hibbard. “Graze Craze opens up a chance for us to attack a void that no one else has really been able to dive into yet.”
United Franchise Group bought a majority stake in Graze Craze in August 2021 when it had just a handful of units. Before taking the helm late last year, Hibbard worked as the vice president of business operations for Transworld Business Advisors, another company under UFG’s umbrella.
Cory Hibbard, president of Graze Craze, is working to grow the brand and has his sights set on international expansion.
Graze Craze creates custom charcuterie boards and boxes for individual customers and has a catering and private events business line, through which it also focuses on corporate customers.
Related: New Franchise Graze Craze Shows Art of Charcuterie
“There’s a lot of fragmented competition, so to speak, in the space,” said Hibbard. “You’ve got a lot of DIY-ers, people that do this out of their house and small events for friends and parties, but we’ve found there’s nobody in the space that can serve specifically corporations.”
With 36 locations open and 150 franchises sold, Graze Craze is working to live up to its name. It expects to open a new location each week, said Hibbard. As a still-new concept, he and his team are focused on attracting franchisees, both those looking to expand their portfolio or those starting their franchise journey.
“We certainly have the benefit of 40 years of franchising experience as far as finding new franchise candidates, managing expectations and taking people through the process,” said Hibbard. “The beautiful thing about being a young brand is that we get to lean on our shared services team amongst our brands.”
Real estate, construction and financing are largely handled in house, and the company “hand-holds” franchisees through the process, he said.
Graze Craze boards feature all the variety of popular charcuterie boards, and the company is focusing efforts on catering for corporate events.
The cost to open a Graze Craze is less than a typical restaurant concept, as stores don’t have the usual frying equipment or large kitchen buildouts. The charcuterie boards themselves consist of spiced hams, fruits, cheeses, breads, dips and jams. The initial cost ranges from $140,000 to $250,000.
The brand is also seeking to make a mark in the birthplace of charcuterie: France. Traditional French charcuterie is different from what Graze Craze and many Americans create. French charcuterie tends to be mostly meat with some cheese. Graze Craze boards are much more varied, allowing for flexibility in orders.
“We’re seeing tremendous growth in the brand, which is great and we want to continue to see growth and the success of franchisees,” said Hibbard. “It’s a really great opportunity that has very few people that don’t have a use case for the product. There’s gotta be something that caters to everybody in the room.”