The Best Chocolate Cake in the World: Exclusivity vs Massification
“M assification is a possible scenario due to the dimensions of Brazil and the
United States. I have many question marks about this topic. In Brazil I don’t
know what will happen. I think it is hard to lose quality because the cake
requires a lot of handwork, and this work cannot be dismissed. So, I believe
that it’s difficult to set up an assembly line, because it will always need the
manual skills to spread the mousse, to apply the coverage… but I don’t know,
everything is possible… ”
At the end of 2010, The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as being sold in Portugal,
Brazil, Spain, and United States. Carlos Braz Lopes, the creator of this chocolate cake
grad uated in Business Ad m inistration at the Catholic University of Portugal in 1981. Braz
Lopes never im agined that his prod uct could be sold in so many different m arkets in such
a short period of tim e. Moreover, other openings all over the w orld w ere in Braz Lopes‟
agend a.
In face of the size reached by The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld, the company need ed
to look into the future cautiously and rigorously, in ord er to continue to d ecid e to keep
grow ing through massification or via exclusivity.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Vasco Braga da Costa Correia Simão prepared this case under the supervision of Nuno Magalhães Guedes, in
partial fulfillment of the Dissertation requirements for the degree of MSc in Business Administration, at
Universidade Católica Portuguesa, in January 2011, as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate
either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation.
The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
1. Company Background
The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld – or rather O M elhor Bolo de Chocolate do M undo, in
its native Portuguese tongue – appeared in 1987 in Paris w hen Braz Lopes w as searching
for innovative id eas for his restaurant, M ercado de Santa Clara, in Lisbon. What w ould be
The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld, in the beginning only had the am bition to be a
d ifferent d essert, sim ilar to the m eringue and chocolate cake of the w ell-know n French
brand Fauchon.
The d essert w as such a success that Braz Lopes beg an to sell it for take aw ay to som e
of the restaurant‟s usual custom ers. They started to ask for the cake to celebrate th eir ow n
and family anniversaries. At the sam e time, Braz Lopes bro ught the chocolate cake to his
cookery school in Lisbon, Cozinhomania, to give a chocolate taste to his stud ents. The
chocolate‟s sm ell attracted the people w ho passed by on the street, that w anted to check
how good it w as. “It is the best chocolate cake in the w orld ”, explained Braz Lopes. The
nam e caught on and the sales fired up. In 2001, Braz Lopes w as selling m ore than 30 cakes
per w eekend and he started to refuse ord ers d ue to lack of prod uction capacity.
In 2002, Braz Lopes d ecid ed to open a store in Cam po d e Ourique, Lisbon, exclusively
to sell the chocolate cake. H e needed an initial investm ent of 150,000 Euros and 4
em ployees – 2 responsible for sales, and the other 2 in charge of th e cake‟s confection – to
set up the store. ”It w as im possible that the business d id not w ork, because I w as alread y
selling the cake in huge quantities”, revealed Braz Lopes.
Sim ultaneously, Braz Lopes started to supply the cake for selected restaurants and
cafeterias.
Som e years later Braz Lopes said , kid d ing w ith one Brazilian custom er, “One d ay I
w ill open a store in your country to sell the cake”. “I w as far from know ing that this
w ould be a reality in the near future”, clarified Braz Lopes. This Brazilian invasion
happened because the Brazilian m agazine V eja recom m end ed The Best Chocolate Cake in the
W orld, in Lisbon, as one of the 10 best places to eat in the Portuguese capital city. So, in
2007 a Brazilian friend of Braz Lopes, Celina Dias, called him and suggested the opening
of a store in São Paulo. It w as the first step tow ard s internationalization.
Braz Lopes is a sim ple person. “I w ant this business to g ive m e pleasure, I w ant to
enjoy w eekend s and d ining out w ith friend s, I w ant to ha ve good vacations. I d on‟t w ant
this business to cause d istress and anxiety because I have several stores around the
w orld ”, said Braz Lopes. For him “Making m oney is as sim ple as m aking a chocolate
cake. You just need to bring som ething unique to the m ark et because there is alw ays a
niche for it”.
From 2007 on, The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as spread around the w orld . It w as
present in Brazil, in Spain and in the United States of America. Exhibit 1 show s som e
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
stores. In 2010, The Best Chocolate Cake in the World had three factories, in Portugal, in
Brazil and in the United States. In Portugal alone, The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as
now prod ucing 150,000 chocolate cakes per year.
2. How to profit from just one store
From 2002 until 2007, The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld only had one single store. But
this fact never prevented Braz Lopes to increase the annual turnover. “Why d o you need
to have 10 stores to m ake m oney?”, questioned Braz Lopes.
First of all, for Braz Lopes “The success of this store is the nam e of its prod uct and the
fact that the store sells virtu ally one prod uct alone”. These tw o factors w ere crucial to
attract the consum ers‟ curiosity. But of course, the success only happened because The
Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld is a high-quality prod uct. “The cake is good and the
consum ers keep telling m e that everyd ay. It w as the quality of the cake that caused the
w ord of m outh. And this w ord of m outh allow ed the concept to expand”, claimed Braz
Lopes.
Despite having only one store, Braz Lopes increased significantly the turnover of The
Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld. This grow th w as also d ue to the expansion of selling
points all over Portugal. Exhibit 2 show s the list of selling points in Portugal. In 2002 the
turnover in Portugal w as 41,500 Euros and in 2010 a turnover of 750,000 Euros w as
expected . Exhibit 3 show s the turnover evolution along the years.
At the sam e time, Braz Lopes had a very w ell d efined criterion w here he only supplied
a very selected range of restaurants and cafeterias all over the country.
The structure of The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as obviously greater than before
since the prod uct started to be available in several points throughout Portugal. In spite of
not having m ore stores, the selling points increased along w ith the need to m aintain the
exact sam e quality in these places. H aving m ore selling points required the factory to
prod uce m ore, to have a m ore accurate accounting system , and a person to check
everyd ay if the sales value m atched the cakes that left the factory. So, there w as a m ore
professionalized ad ministrative structure than before, w hen the chocolate cake w as sold
only in the store.
Braz Lopes had an ad vantage w hen he opened his store in Cam po d e Ourique. H e
knew how the m arket w ould react to his chocolate cake, because he already sold it in vast
quantities in his Restaurant and in Cozinhom ania. This great confid ence allow ed Braz
Lopes to face the m arket w ith a d ifferent self-assurance. “I d idn‟t w ake up one d ay and
said , I w ill sell chocolate cakes. When I opened the store I knew w hat I w as d oing”,
clarified Braz Lopes.
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
For Braz Lopes, Portugal w as the m arket for The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld.
“Portugal is m y business. I w ant to continue w ith this form at and also w ith the C am po d e
Ourique store, because it w as here that all started and it is here w here I enjoy selling The
Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld”, said Braz Lopes.
3. How to create a successful brand
A brand ‟s success goes beyond the prod uct‟s quality. It is a combination of factors like
und erstanding the consum ers‟ perception, know ing your target, m aking an association
betw een the brand name and its em otional aspects, having a sense for d ifferen tiation,
being able to create a new experience, am ong others.
But for Braz Lopes, The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as not m ad e und er these
param eters. “This business w as not m ad e w ith all these things. It w as just a prod uct that
started in m y restaurant, ans after that it w as introd uced in Cozinhomania. Later on, I
opened the store, and subsequently it w ent abroad ”, stated Braz Lopes.
Tod ay, people think that the brand nam e – The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld – w as a
genius form ula to create a successful brand . “The nam e of the cake w as not thought at all
in ord er to increase its success. The nam e com es from m y d ram atization. Those w ho know
m e recognize that I exaggerate everything I am talking about. For m e, there are never
d ozens of people, there are alw ays thousand s”, explained Braz Lopes.
The brand nam e created enorm ous curiosity am ong consum ers. For Braz Lopes “the
nam e of the cake w as a great provocative factor for all the curiosity generated ”. In all
stores there is the story of the cake in the m enus and placem ats . “I think that people d on‟t
com e to eat the cake because of m y story, people com e to taste the cake because of its
nam e. I d on‟t know if in Portugal people like the story of the cake, but abroad they love
it”, said Braz Lopes. So, the ow ners of the stores in Brazil, Spain, and United States “ seize
the opportunity to em phasize the story and m ake it a m ore hom em ad e chocolate cake
story”, affirm ed Braz Lopes. The prom otion of the concept w as alw ays a concern in every
store of The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld.
A brilliant exam ple of a situation r egard ing the im pact of the nam e on the consum ers
m ind w as the episod e that happened in the early d ays of the first Brazilian store. One d ay,
in São Paulo, a man entered the store and said to Braz Lopes, “I d on‟t like chocolate, I w ill
not buy anything, but I w ant to know the guy w ho thought of this nam e, it„s genial”.
“Im agine how I m y ego w as, w hat else could I say?”, expressed Braz Lopes.
The success of a brand is also associated w ith not m issing opportunities. Braz Lopes
never m issed an opportunity to am plify and to spread his business a little bit around the
w orld . “I‟m sitting in a coffee shop and I receive calls from people saying that they w ould
like to open a new store in Brazil, N ew York, w herever, and ask m e if I‟m interested ”,
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
claim ed Braz Lopes to explain how people have been show ing their interest on investing
in this business.
Probably, all these factors are related to Braz Lopes‟s personality. “I never realized
quite w ell how m y personality could be valuable for the brand . N ow ad ays, I und erstan d
that there is not an entrepreneur that d oesn‟t w ant to open a store w ith m e as a partner.
People com e to m e and ask if I w ant to m ake a partnership w ith them. I know that in
Brazil they w ill obviously be able to sell the cake w ithout m e there. But they u nd erstand
that it is im portant to have the story of the Portuguese guy associated to the brand , and
they d on‟t abdicate from it. So, all these people know that it is interesting and , m ore
im portantly, they w ill benefit by having the protagonist close to th e consum ers”, argued
Braz Lopes.
4. Product, Price, Promotion, and Place
4.1. Product
The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as sold in every store as the m ain prod uct. The
chocolate cake w as an id ea d eveloped by Braz Lopes that consisted of d iscontinuou s
crispy chocolate m eringue and sm ooth chocolate m ousse layers, glazed w ith a chocolate
ganache. The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as sold in tw o versions, a Bittersw eet w ith
70% cacao content and a Trad itional w ith 55% of cacao. The chocolate cake w as sold in
tw o d ifferent sizes 7‟‟ and 11‟‟1. Exhibit 4 show s how the chocolate cake looks like.
In the United States and Brazil the ch ocolate cake had the Kosher certificate. “This
certificate allow s the Jew ish com m unity to eat the cake. Jew s represent a significant
percentage of consum ers. So, having this authentication is essential for the business
success in these tw o countries”, justified Braz Lopes.
In Portugal, the store offered several services beyond the sale of the chocolate cake.
The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as present in w ed d ings, events, birthd ay parties and
hom e d eliveries. But this last service w as only provid ed if the consum er asked for a
reasonable quantity.
The Braz Lopes‟ store concept w as to have sm all stores. “The stores are alw ays sm all
since the id ea is to sell the w hole cake. But this d oes not happen in all the countries w here
w e sell. Each country is quite d ifferent from one another. In Portugal, for instance, there is
a fam ily concept, w hile in the United States and Brazil each family mem bers lives in a
d ifferent part of the country, usually in a d ifferent State”, clarified Braz Lopes.
1
18 and 28 centim eters
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
4.2. Price
The price policy of The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld w as d efined to be at the sam e
level of the com petition for a cake w ith sim ilar characteristics. In Portugal, Braz Lopes
him self set the prices. In the other countries, “the prices are d efined by the local p artners
because they know the m arket better”, considered Braz Lopes. For him , ”the price is
accessible to the target m arket that w e w ant to reach”. Exhibit 5 show s the prices in the
d ifferent countries.
4.3. Promotion
Initially, the prom otion in Portugal w as only d one by w ord of m outh. “The nam e
created great im pact. I d id n‟t need to w orry about that”, claim ed Braz Lopes. In 2009,
Braz Lopes hired a comm unication agency to w ork w ith him . “When I und erstood that
the chocolate cake w as gaining a substantial d im ension and there w ere som e copy
attem pts I d ecid ed to spread even m ore the name of the chocolate cake. N ow ad ays, The
Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld has a Facebook page, I go to television show s and to som e
events w here The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld, the official one”, is present, explained
Braz Lopes.
In the United States, Brazil and Spain com m unication agencies w ere hired to prom ote
the chocolate cake, in add ition to the w ord of m outh. The openings of the tw o N ew York
stores w ere the events th at had the biggest im pact on the m ed ia. It attracted the interest of
d iverse m ed ia channels, from television to new spapers and created a lot of buzz around
it. Exhibit 6 show s som e articles that prom oted the brand .
Beyond the m ore professionalized prom otion there w ere som e stories and
testim onials, w hich can be told as true exam ples of the im pact that this chocolate cake w as
having on consum ers. The first story w as a comm ent that Braz Lopes saw on the Internet,
“I w as at hom e and I saw it in the new spaper. I thought these guys w ere quite pretentious
because it w as not possible to be the best chocolate cake in the w orld , but I d id n‟t resist
and I w ent there. And w hat I have to say to you is, tod ay d on‟t go to the beach , go to The
Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld store and taste it”, said a Brazilian w oman. And the second
story also happened in Brazil. “When I w ent to São Paulo I flew the Portuguese flag, to
announce m y presence. I thought I w as nothing m ore or less than the Queen, so w hile I
w as there I flew the flag. The consum ers got used to it and w hen they saw the flag they
knew that the Portuguese ow ner w as there”, told Braz Lopes.
“Tod ay all the brand‟s prom otion is m ad e in a m ore professional w ay”, clarified
Braz Lopes.
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
4.4. Place
The com pany ran its ow n d istribution operations. In Portugal, the firm had vans that
w ere responsible to d eliver the chocolate cake all over Portugal, as w ell as in Mad rid . In
the United States and Brazil the system w as sim ilar, w ith vans d elivering to the stores.
“In Portugal the sales in the store had a m uch bigger im pact on the annual turnover of
the firm ”, said Braz Lopes. In 2009, the in store sales represented 70% of the annual
turnover, against 30% on selling points.
5. Internationalization strategy
The issue of going abroad w as alw ays raised by cake-loving consum ers‟ initiative.
These cake lovers w ere attracted by the sim plicity of the concept behind the cake. And so,
they looked to this business as a w ay to change the path of their lives.
The business concept, as the brand nam e says, turns around The Best Chocolate Cake in
the W orld. “It is ju st a chocolate cake, 90% of people like chocolate”, magnified Braz Lopes.
All the stores are sm all, have The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld as the central prod uct,
and som e other prod ucts to com plem ent the cake. Exhibit 7 show s the Menu of N ew York
N olita‟s store.
The position ad opted by Braz Lopes w as alw ays being a junior partner. “I d on‟t w ant
to be a senior partner. As there are persons interested in opening stores w ith m y prod uct,
so I w ant to start earning m oney in a d ifferent w ay, w ithout investment because the
investm ent w as alread y d one and it cam e from my head ”, explained Braz Lopes.
For him “the reason behin d the internationalization w as a m atter of m ere curiosity, I
d id n‟t have this intention. I took a chance outsid e of Portugal only because som eone
suggested it and I d ecid ed to take the risk. It is as sim ple as that”.
“I never prepared the brand for an expansion, so this is w hy I d idn‟t have an image
stand ard ization for The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld”, justified Braz Lopes. Exhibit 8
show s the logos of The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld in d ifferent countries.
Concerning the financial issues, Braz Lopes never ran into d ebt to open new stores,
alw ays keeping a controlled risk profile. “The biggest effort is alw ays m ade by the person
w ho w ants to open the business. I w ill not die from hunger if that store d oes not succeed ”,
elucid ated Braz Lopes.
5.1. Brazil
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
In Brazil it w as a com pletely d ifferent story. H ere Braz Lopes w as not just a junior
partner. In N ovem ber 2007, the first store outsid e of Portugal w as opened in São Paulo, on
Rua Óscar Freire, the 8th m ost luxurious street in the w orld and second in the Americas 2,
just behind 5th Avenue. H ere you could find the m ost prestigious brands like, Calvin Klein,
Dior, Emporio A rmani, Cartier, M ontblanc, am ong others. This store em erged through a
50/ 50 partnership betw een Braz Lopes and Dias. They m ad e an investm ent of 75,000
Euros.
The im m ed iate success of The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld in São Paulo m ust be
assigned to the superb location. “We d id an opening w ithout fuss, w ithout any
prom otion, but people w ere curious. People started to enter, tasted the cake and began
spread ing the new s”, said Braz Lopes.
This d ecision of bringing The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld to Brazil dem and ed the
ad aptation of the brand and even the prod uction process of the cake, because the w eather
in São Paulo is m uch more h um id than in Portugal. “The biggest test w as to cross the
ocean, because here the cake requires som e changes, like longer baking tim e”, explained
Dias3.
Other operational aspects w ere taken in consid eration in ord er to m axim ize the
business on the other sid e of the Atlantic. “Other concerns emerged , such as the visual
id entity of the business, the environm ent insid e the store, and the transform ation of the
kitchen into a functional area. The id ea w as to create a replicable m od el, since the next
step w as to franchise”, said Dias 2.
In August 2010 there w ere six franched stores in Brazil: three in São Paulo, one in
Brasília, one in Rio d e Janeiro, and another one in Salvad or. The franchising cost w as
d efined around the 110,000 Euros w ith an expected return payback period of around 24
m onths. Exhibit 9 show s the Brazilian franchising registration form and some legal
cond itions. For 2010, a turnover of 790,000 Euros, for Brazil alone w as expected .
5.1.1. The closure of tw o franchised stores
In the beginning the franchising experience w as not quite successful. The first tw o
franchising stores in Brazil w ere closed .
Both franchised stores belonged to the sam e ow ner and w here located in São Paulo.
One store w as in Vila Mad alena neighborhood and the other one w as in H igienópolis.
Each of the ow ner‟s daughters w as responsible for one store.
2
3
- Accord ing to Excellence Mystery Shopping International.
- Valor Económ ico - Brazilian N ew spaper.
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
For Braz Lopes, the reason of these tw o closures w as that “the franchisees w ere never
in their stores; and also, one of the m ain franchising principles is the constant presence of
the responsible in the store in ord er to evaluate w hat is happening and take care of the
business. And som etim es, once they buy a successful business, people think they can set it
up and leave it to their em ployees”.
Braz Lopes and Dias tried to block the opening of the store in H igienópolis, because
they consid ered that it w as too big. This w as against The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld‟s
concept, w hich consisted of having sm all stores in ord er to sell the entire cakes instead of
slices.
After these tw o failures, Braz Lopes and Diaz opened another store in Vila Mad alena.
“We opened a store on the other sid e of the street, because w e believed that it w as an
excellent location and it w ould w ork. These tw o girls opened their stores and h and ed
them to their em ployees. And there is no business that survives in these cond itions, unless
it sells gold popcorns”, justified Braz Lopes.
5.1.2. The loss of control in Brazil through licensing
On August 27th 2010, Braz Lopes and Dias sold their position in the Brazilian m arket.
The Brazilian fast-food com pany Casa d o Pão de Queijo 4 acquired the rights to use The
Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld brand . “We said that w e could be interested in selling and
this opportunity popped up”, clarified Braz Lopes.
The rights to use the brand w ere sold to the Brazilian com pany. “The brand w as sold . I
m ad e a contract w here I w ill receive royalties for brand use”, explained Braz Lopes.
From this d ate on, Casa d o Pão d e Queijo had the absolute control over the brand . “I
d on‟t have any control over the brand . Casa d o Pão d e Queijo can m ake everything they
w ant. They can open as m any stores and selling points in Brazil as they w ant until th e end
of the contract”, highlighted Braz Lopes.
Another condition of this licensing agreem ent w as to hire Dias to w ork at Casa d o Pão
d e Queijo. Dias w as hired to be the Marketing Director of the Brazilian firm . Therefore,
“this asset w ould be im portant for Casa d o Pão de Queijo to m aximize the perform ance of
this new business area since she is the Brazilian face of The Best Chocolate Cake in the
W orld”, explained Braz Lopes.
4
- A Brazilian fast-food com pany found ed in 1967. It w as the first com pany in Brazil selling “cheese buns”
and it is also responsible for m aking cheese rolls, a national trad ition. In 2010, Casa d o Pão d e Queijo ow ned
m ore than 400 stores and 400 selling points all over Brazil. And it had the highest nu m ber of franchisees in
Brazil.
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
5.2. Spain
The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld arrived in Mad rid by the nam e of La M ejor Tarta de
Chocolate del M undo. The interest started in 2003 w hen the Spaniard cake lover, Isabel
Ruiz-Morales, lived in Lisbon.
In N ovem ber 2008, Ruiz-Morales returned to Spain and saw The Best Chocolate Cake in
the W orld as an excellent opportunity to d evelop her ow n business. For that reason, RuizMorales proposed to Braz Lopes to establish a partnership.
Ruiz-Morales‟s goal w as to sell the cake in Mad rid w ithout any physical space
associated to it, like a store or a restaurant. But in ord er to have this freed om RuizMorales need ed a space w here she could stock the cakes w ithout loosing quality. So, it
w as und er these conditions that the partnership w ith Iria Rom ero, a restaurant ow ner in
the centre of Mad rid , appeared . Rom ero had a restaurant that had sufficient refrigerator
space to preserve the cakes. “The goal of this partnership w as not to sell the cake in the
restaurant. The partnership em erged because there w as a need to find space to stock the
cake”, said Braz Lopes. The chocolate cake started to be sold to local restaurants, to other
retailers, and to som e ind ivid ual consum ers.
This storage space in Mad rid provid ed the opportunity to evaluate the consum ers‟
cake acceptance. And the m arket reacted so w ell that tw o years later, in N ovem ber 2010,
Ruiz-Morales and Rom ero opened a store to sell solely the cake,. “This store w as located
near by Calle Serrano, w here w e can find the m ost prestigious brand s in the w orld ”,
stated Braz Lopes. And now , at the end of 2010, w e are analyzing the opening of a factory
in Mad rid ”.
In 2010 the expected turnover w as 110,000 Euros. Exhibit 3 show s the turnover
evolution along the years since 2008.
5.3. United States of America
In June 2010 by the hand of Braz Lopes and Ad riano Lucas – a local Portuguese
partner – The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld arrived in N ew York City. Located in the
centre of Manhattan, in the N olita neighborhood on Spring Street, this first shop gave the
opportunity to N ew Yorkers to taste the Portuguese confection . “Opening a shop right
here gives us a quite spoiled ego”, said Braz Lopes about the opening of N olita‟s shop.
With a d egree in Business and Ad ministration at the Catholic University of Portugal
and a previous career in investm ent banking, Lucas w as a cake lover. Therefore, being a
fan of this cake, he saw The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld as an opportunity to start his
ow n business.
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
After the opening of Nolita‟s store, Braz Lopes and Lucas d ecid ed to open another
shop in the Big Apple. In October of 2010, the second store w as officially inaugurated in
N ew York City. This store w as located in Dum bo, that is, a rustic area near som e
prom ising art-galleries, picturesque restaurants, and neighborhood bars. “The reason w hy
w e opened another shop w as because the factory w as alread y there and the neighborhood
w as becom ing a trend y zone w ith high purchasing pow er”, clarified Braz Lopes.
The buzz around the cake‟s name w as stunning. There w ere several comm ents around
it. On the one hand , there w ere people that subscribe the nam e of the chocolate cake.
“This is w ithout a d oubt the m ost am azing chocolate cake in the w orld . Call it cake, call it
w hat you w ant but let there be no d oubts, this is the best chocolate cake ever!”, said a
N ew Yorker cake lover 5. But on the other hand , th ere w ere opinions against the nam e of
the chocolate cake. “If you're going to nam e you r shop The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld,
you've got to at least bring it into, say, the Top 10, especially in N ew York City, w here
there are alread y d ozens of excellent chocolate cake d esserts to choose”, criticized a N ew
Yorker 4.
Lucas and Braz Lopes w ere sched uling the opening of a new store in Mad ison, N ew
York. And a store in Washington D.C. w as also in the Braz Lopes‟ agend a. In 2010, the
expected turnover in the United States w as 120,000 Euros.
6. Exclusivity vs Massification
By the end of 2010, Braz Lopes w as facing a d ilem m a. H e need ed to explore new w ays
to expand his business w ithin the next few years. This w as a d elicate d ecision because it
could affect the positioning of The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld in the consum ers‟ m ind ,
and consequently the future of the com pany in the m arket.
One option w as to stay focused on The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld‟s d istinctive
com petence: d elivering a high -quality chocolate cake to a very specific target. This
approach offered m any revenues to the firm along the past years and d id n‟t change the
perception of the consum ers. H ow ever, this choice w as m aking the prod uct available for
only a niche of consum ers and this fact could underm ine the future grow th of the firm .
Alternatively, the other option w as to increase quickly the annual turnover. The Best
Chocolate Cake in the W orld could open several stores and extend the business to local
franchises in the m arkets w here the prod uct w as present, like it did in Brazil. This option
could provid e a quick return and huge grow th rates. But, this alternative could change
the perception of the consum ers and com prom ise the future existence of The Best Chocolate
Cake in the W orld.
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- The Best Chocolate Cake in the World - Facebook
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
So, the alternatives w ere quite clear. The firm could opt betw ee n a fast and m assive
grow th or a slow and exclusive one. This w as w hat Braz Lopes had on his hand s, besid es
a tasteful slice of his cake, to d ecid e in w hich w ay The Best Chocolate Cake in the W orld
should grow in the future.
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
7. Exhibits
Exhibit 1 Stores
Lisbon
Óscar Freire, São Pau lo
N olita, N ew York
Mad rid
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World - Facebook
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Exhibit 2 List of selling points in Portugal
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Exhibit 3 Annual turnover evolution
Portugal
Values in Eu ros
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Brazil
Values in Eu ros
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Spain
Values in Eu ros
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Cumulative turnover – Portugal, Brazil, Spain and United States
Values in Eu ros
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Exhibit 4 The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate
Cake in the World - Facebook
Exhibit 5 Prices
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Exhibit 6 Articles
Diário N otícias - Portuguese N ew spaper
Sou rce:
Diário
d e N otícias, Decem ber 2007; http :/ / d n.sap o.p t/ inicio/ interior.asp x?content_id =990803
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Actualid ad € – Spanish Magazine
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World - Facebook
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
The N ew York Tim es N ew spaper
l
Sou rce: N ew York Tim es, Ju ne 2010; http :/ / w w w .nytim es.com / 2010/ 06/ 16/ d ining/ 16cake.htm l
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Exhibit 7 N ew York N olita‟s store m enu
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World - Facebook
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Exhibit 8 Logos
Portu gal
United States of Am erica
Brazil
Sp ain
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
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The Best Chocolate Cake in the World
Exhibit 9 Brazilian franchising registration form
- Investimento total para uma loja a partir de R$ 250 mil (incluindo taxa de
franquia e capital de giro inicial).
- Total de unidades: 3
- Taxa de franquia: R$ 45 mil
- Royalties: 5% sobre o faturamento bruto
- Taxa de marketing: 2% sobre o faturamento bruto
- Número de funcionários: a partir de 6
- Área mínima: 60m²
- Prazo de retorno: a partir de 24 meses
Caso tenha interesse em saber mais sobre as oportunidades de expansão da
nossa marca, o primeiro passo é preencher a ficha cadastral abaixo para que
possamos dar continuidade ao atendimento.
O passo seguinte será uma reunião em nossa sede a fim de esclarecer
dúvidas, e apresentar o projeto de nosso negócio.
Todas as informações serão tratadas com o devido sigilo.
Sou rce: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World – Brazilian Website;
http :/ / w w w .om elhorbolod echocolated om u nd o.com / franqu ias-form .htm
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