Today, Inspire Brands opened its 10,000th international restaurant—a Dunkin’ in Lelystad, Netherlands, with Jordan Benelux Holding B.V.—marking a significant milestone for the company.
Having recently celebrated its sixth anniversary, Inspire’s global footprint has grown to more than 32,600 locations operating in nearly 60 markets. Its six category-defining brands (Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and Sonic) now serve more than 410 million guests over 4.3 billion times every year. International locations now make up more than 30 percent of the Inspire portfolio.
“The opening of our 10,000th international store attests to the power of the Inspire business model, as well as the affinity of our brands, and demonstrates our commitment to accelerating worldwide growth,” said Michael Haley, President & Managing Director International for Inspire Brands. “I want to thank team members, franchisees and other stakeholders for their hard work in helping us achieve this exciting milestone. I look forward to our continued expansion around the world as each of our brands builds on its significant runway for global growth.”
Inspire’s multi-brand platform and extensible shared-services model is designed to enable each of its brands to benefit from and build off the strengths of one another and serves as a key driver of both domestic and international growth.
Over the past six years, the Inspire international team has focused on providing enhanced franchisee support with industry-leading innovation to drive executional excellence and fuel long-term growth. This approach has led to a nearly 40 percent year-over-year increase in international net unit growth.
Introducing U.S. Brands to Global Audiences, Expanding Iconic Brands into New International Markets, and Bringing New Franchisees into the Inspire Portfolio
Inspire’s fully dedicated international team spans all business functions, including marketing, operations, supply chain, development, construction and design. Having a comprehensive support team, much of which is based in-market, is instrumental in facilitating the addition of new franchisees and new markets into the Inspire portfolio.
With strong investments in global insights and trends to guide brand and market development strategies, Inspire can efficiently launch existing brands into new, international markets. This was recently highlighted by the announcement of Jimmy John’s international expansion with the signing of franchisee agreements in Canada and Latin America.
Driving Performance with Existing Franchisees
To continue driving outsized growth for existing franchisees across each International region, Inspire has created a scalable digital platform, developed more than 150 new consumer-led products, launched new branding for Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins, introduced new store designs for Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings and Dunkin’ and is developing more flexible store formats for its brands.
Highlights from 2023 include: opening more than 900 international restaurants; surpassing 4,000 Dunkin’ international locations; selling more than 29 million gallons of Baskin-Robbins ice cream; opening the 200th Arby’s international location; launching a new Buffalo Wild Wings international format; and developing a hot, toasted sandwich menu for Jimmy John’s international.
Cross-Brand Growth
Benefiting from the collective power and scale of six diverse, iconic restaurant brands spanning multiple occasions, international franchisees have the opportunity to expand their portfolios across Inspire’s complementary concepts, dayparts and product offerings.
Most recently, Shahia Foods, a legacy Dunkin’ franchisee, launched Arby’s in Saudi Arabia and doubled down with additional significant expansion commitments across the broader Gulf Cooperation Council. Many cross-brand deals with other franchisees are in the pipeline.
“Inspire had a banner year for international growth in 2023, and 2024 is off to an incredible start,” added Haley. “Our brands resonate with both international consumers and operators alike. Inspire is truly a restaurant company like no other, and we’re eager to engage even more new and existing franchisees across the globe to find the right brand fit for their market.”
To learn more about growth opportunities with Inspire, please visit inspirebrands.com/franchising/international/.
