Dive Brief:
- Papa Murphy’s signed three franchise agreements to co-brand the take-and-bake pizza chain with frozen yogurt brand and sister company Pinkberry, the company said in a press release Wednesday.
- The model is meant to provide franchisees with multiple revenue streams and leverage shared real estate, labor and operational efficiencies, the chain said.
- While these are the first Papa Murphy’s/Pinkberry locations, Papa Murphy’s first co-branded location opened in January with Famous Dave’s in Highland Park, Minnesota, a spokesperson wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive.
Dive Insight:
Co-branding is a growing strategy across Papa Murphy’s parent company MTY Group, which also includes Kahala Brands. That division has been opening co-branded Wetzel’s Pretzels and Cold Stone Creamery units across the country, providing more flexibility and options to grow units and sales that were not available previously. Kahala also has co-branded restaurants for Cold Stone and Planet Smoothie and combined restaurants with Sweet Frog, including Planet Smoothie and Wetzel’s.
Papa Murphy’s co-branding will offer additional convenience to consumers, while allowing franchisees to offer multiple daypart occasions.
“These brands in particular pair well together and also offset each other seasonally, which will greatly assist in growth and a faster ROI in the future for candidates that wish to explore co-brands as ways to develop new stores with either brand,” Ray Zandi, vice president of U.S. development at MTY Food Group, said in a statement.
The three co-branded locations are across different states. Operators Joshua and Samantha Kimzey will open a restaurant in Sunriver, Oregon, in November. John Perea, a long-time Papa Murphy’s franchisee, will add Pinkberry to his existing Papa Murphy’s location in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Casey Kauer, another existing franchisee who operates five Papa Murphy’s units in Utah, will open a co-branded location in West Haven, Utah, next summer.
"The early responses to our co-brand concept reinforce the strength of these brands individually and the even greater potential they have together," Zandi said. "By combining Papa Murphy's and Pinkberry, or sweetFrog or some of the other less labor-intensive concepts, we're creating a differentiated concept that gives owners greater flexibility while delivering a convenient, high-quality experience for guests.”
Given the additional revenue opportunities, co-branding could help slow down closures that have hit the system since last year. MTY Group said in July that it could close up to 50 underperforming corporate-owned Papa Murphy’s restaurants throughout the rest of this year. Papa Murphy’s also closed a number of stores last year. Papa Murphy’s store count declined from 1,168 units in 2023 to 1,014 in 2024, according to a franchise disclosure document.
MTY Group has been working to improve marketing efforts, turn around declining digital sales through an updated rewards program, menu optimization and creating new pizza to boost traffic at the pizza chain.
