Ella Cafe, a community-focused coffee brand based in Plantation, Florida, is embarking on an ambitious franchising push with plans to reach more than 100 locations within five years, according to Greg Koffler, the company’s Chief Development Officer.
Koffler, who brings more than two decades of franchise development experience in the food and beverage industry, joined Ella Cafe five months ago to build the systems and processes needed to scale the brand nationally. The company currently operates three locations in South Florida, with a fourth under construction in Fort Lauderdale.
“We are experiential in nature,” Koffler said during today’s Business Trends Today episode. “We want to be that community cafe where people come, do their homework, have their study groups…. We’re not a transactional brand.”
The concept was born in 2016 as a single family-owned location before Exuma Capital Partners acquired it in 2022 and began testing a multi-unit model. After validating the unit-level economics across two additional company stores, the brand moved toward franchising.
Franchise requirements
Ella Cafe is seeking multi-unit operators, which refers to its earliest franchisees as “prospectors”, who are required to develop a minimum of three stores in a protected territory. Prospective franchisees must demonstrate a net worth of at least $1 million and liquidity of $250,000.
Koffler said the brand is deliberately targeting operators with genuine community engagement over passive investors. “If you’re just going to open your doors and build it and [assume] they’ll come… that doesn’t work,” he said. “You really have to be involved in the community.”
The brand’s first franchise deal has already been signed in Palm Beach County, with the first franchise location expected to open next month. Koffler said the Gulf Coast of Florida and the Carolinas are also on the near-term radar, while out-of-state deals would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. He indicated the brand would not pursue franchising in California, citing the challenging regulatory and business environment there.
Scaling the model
Koffler said the current support infrastructure positions Ella Cafe to open 20 to 30 franchise locations per year. At that pace, the brand projects it will surpass 100 units within five years, with the majority concentrated in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
"People do not realize the scope of the franchise industry in this country. And done well, it builds generational wealth." – Greg Koffler
He acknowledged that early franchisees carry unique significance for an emerging brand. “Those first franchisees are your foundational elements… they’ll be your validators moving forward for years,” he said. However, he does argue that, “If our initial franchisees fail, we’re done.”
Competitive positioning
Notably, Koffler frames Ella Cafe’s community-oriented model as a direct counterpoint to the drive-through convenience model that has dominated the coffee industry in recent years. With Starbucks facing increased consumer pushback over long lines and complex ordering processes, he sees a market opening for brands that prioritize the in-store experience.
“There’s definitely pushback against that transactional nature of the business,” he said. “We want to be the place where people actually go.”
On the advantages of franchising over independent startups, Koffler points to negotiating power in lease negotiations, supply-chain pricing, and access to prototypical construction drawings as key structural benefits that independent operators typically cannot access.
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