Qld company obtains Australian rights to US bakery franchise Cinnabon

A Queensland company has landed the rights to a US bakery giant, with the first store set to open in southeast Queensland later this year.

A progressive Queensland family company that opened six stand-alone Carl’s Jr stores in a year, and has a seventh on the way, has landed the Australian rights to US bakery giant Cinnabon.

As the Bansal Group prepares to celebrate the first anniversary of its flagship Carl’s Jr store at Redbank Plains, it has announced it will launch Cinnabon in the third quarter of this year.

The bakery restaurant chain started in Seattle in 1985 and claims to have the world’s greatest cinnamon roll.

The Queensland outlets will be concentrated in high pedestrian areas in southeast Queensland shopping centres from the middle of the year.

Queensland family company Bansal Group, which has the state rights to Carl's Jr hamburger chain, has secured the Australian franchise rights to Cinnabon. The first Cinnabon outlet is due to open in Brisbane by the middle of the year. Photo: Supplied.

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The brand will then be expanded into greater Sydney in 2020 and Melbourne in 2021.

Unlike the burger franchise, which has been rolled out at Logan, Ipswich and the Gold Coast, Cinnabon will have a strong presence closer to Brisbane’s CBD.

Bansal Group co-owner Gaurav Bansal said Cinnabon’s point of difference was that there was no international competitor on the Australian market.

“You have world famous doughnuts, you have world famous burgers but there’s no world famous scroll brand in Australia,” Mr Bansal said.

“Their frosting and cinnamon make them different from any other brand that people can’t imitate.”

Whereas the Bansal Group is the sole franchisee of Carl’s Jr stand-alone stores in Queensland, it will sub-franchise Cinnabon in Australia while also retaining a handful of outlets.

US bakery giant Cinnabon is coming to Australia after Queensland company Bansal Group secured the national rights. Picture: Supplied

The company has already fielded calls from eager investors and the first two locations to open will also be used as training and education stores for franchisees.

Mr Bansal said that even though Cinnabon may not be a household name across Australia, early indications are that it had a strong undercurrent of fans.

“We started a Facebook page two weeks ago and we’ve already had more than 10,000 likes,” he said.

“We always wanted a sweet brand in our portfolio and when I looked at Cinnabon for flavour experience and smell, I thought there was a big market for this in Australia.”

Another point of difference was that the scrolls were cooked in-store every half-hour and customers can expect ultra-fresh products at all outlets.

Mr Bansal said that should set it apart from any bakery, doughnut or cafe chain and their plan was to have 50 outlets across Australia within the next three years.

“Some places sell frozen doughnuts. We are fresh on site. We make them every half an hour. No one does that,” he said.

Bansal Group general manager Shawn Kerr said Cinnabon would be more than just a bakery, with an emphasis also on coffee.

“They are moving into a coffee bakery offering and we are talking to several brands at the moment,” he said.

He said it was important that the brand expanded at a steady rate to create a strong first impression.

“Our first year is going to be testing and growing but we are committed to grow quickly after that.”