The French fast food franchise market continues to grow, reaching global sales of 10.39 billion euros by 2025. Whether you like smash burgers, coffee shops or sushi restaurants, this sector is full of opportunities.
Jean-François Gillet
18
Feb 2025
The French fast-food franchise market continues to grow, reaching total sales of 10.39 billion euros by 2025, with a record 302 chains (+15.3%) and 8,953 stores (+10.8%)*. This expansion opens up new opportunities for French entrepreneurs in gourmet burgers, tacos, coffee shops, bakery-patisseries (Brioche Dorée, La Mie Câline) or innovative concepts like Afrik n'Fusion.
With innovation, digitization and growing consumer demand for healthier, faster and more personalized concepts, restaurant franchises represent a tremendous opportunity for future entrepreneurs.
The French fast-food franchising market continues to grow, reaching total sales of 10.39 billion euros by 2025, with a record 302 chains (+15.3%) and 8,953 stores (+10.8%)*. This expansion opens up new business opportunities for French entrepreneurs, whether in the gourmet burger sector, taco shops, coffee shops, bakeries such as Brioche Dorée or La Mie Câline, or innovative concepts such as Afrik n'Fusion.
The foodservice sector remains one of the most dynamic and promising for franchises in 2025. With innovation, digitalization and growing consumer demand for healthier, faster and more personalized concepts, restaurant franchises represent a tremendous opportunity for future entrepreneurs.
In this article, we decipher the major trends, the concepts that work, the keys to choosing a profitable restaurant franchise, and the investments you need to make.
In 2025, franchising in France continues to attract a growing number of would-be entrepreneurs. According to the latest figures from the Fédération Française de la Franchise (FFF), the sector now generates annual sales in excess of 80 billion euros, with almost 85,000 stores across the country. Growth continues unabated, despite a sometimes uncertain economic environment.
The model appeals as much to young entrepreneurs in search of independence as to executives undergoing retraining, attracted by a turnkey solution. The promise of personalized support, the reputation of a tried-and-tested brand and the reduced risks involved in opening a business make it a reassuring alternative to launching a solo venture.
At the same time, consumers are increasingly demanding. They are looking for innovative concepts, a seamless customer experience, consistent quality of service, and proximity to brands. The franchise model, with its well-established structure, is an effective response to these expectations.
Post-health crisis, many sectors have been able to adapt thanks to digitalization, technological innovation andtask automation. Franchise networks have played a key role in this transformation, offering ongoing support to their franchisees.
Growth sectors include :
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In 2025, franchised foodservice remains one of the most dynamic sectors on the market. Its strength lies in its ability to adapt rapidly to new consumer habits and expectations:
To meet these demands, restaurant franchises are focusing on innovation and digitalization. Order terminals, loyalty applications and inventory management are now an integral part of the business model.
The major chains are also adapting their product offering to include vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and "healthy" dishes, to appeal to a more consumer-conscious clientele. Franchise catering is constantly innovating to meet the expectations of a more demanding consumer: speed, quality, traceability, personalization and an optimal customer experience.
With adapted formulas (takeaways, food trucks, kiosks, dark kitchens), it's possible to join a network even with limited personal capital. Return on investment can be rapid in a growth sector.
Contrary to popular belief, today it's possible to become a restaurant franchisee without having to invest hundreds of thousands of euros. In 2025, many chains are offering more accessible formats:
These models enable you to reduce fixed costs, test a concept in a targeted geographical area andaccelerate return on investment. Some franchises achieve an ROI of between 18 and 36 months, depending on location, concept and outlet management.
For example, brands such as Bagel Corner and Chamas Tacos offer compact, profitable formats with a minimum investment of €30,000 to €50,000.
The success of a franchise is based on a tried and tested business model. This is one of the great advantages of the system:
These reassurance elements enable profiles from outside the restaurant industry (executives, recent graduates, professional returnees) to succeed in their entrepreneurial project without having to start from scratch. With a platform like Inpulse, your new franchisee is rapidly trained in your network's best practices.
Gone are the overly standardized traditional fast-food chains: the new brands are focusing on product quality,customer experience and strong values such as respect for the environment and food traceability.
Fast food is no longer synonymous with "cheap" or "greasy". This historically buoyant segment has reinvented itself to meet the needs of a more demanding clientele, looking for speed, but also quality, transparency and personalization.
Successful concepts for 2025 :
Recruiting franchisees is a complex process, but vital to the success of your network. According to the Observatoire de la Franchise, over 85% of new franchises are still operational after five years. This success can largely be attributed to a rigorous recruitment process. It is by recruiting competent, motivated franchisees who are in tune with the company's vision that it is possible to grow effectively. This ensures consistent quality of service, fosters innovation through franchisee feedback, and reinforces brand loyalty.
Mohamed Soualhi of Tacos Avenue explains the importance of sharing experiences:
"Getting together from time to time allows us to have a moment dedicated to communication and training. At our seminars, franchisees can get together physically and talk to each other to solve problems they all face."
When recruiting a potential franchisee, it's important to consider a number of criteria. These may vary according to brand and concept, but generally include the following elements:
"You need to be transparent about start-up costs, and careful about the minimum capital required. If your concept requires €70,000 in capital to obtain a €300,000 loan, you shouldn't accept a candidate with only €30 or €40,000. You also need to check that the applicant has the required capital", explains Mohamed Soualhi, founder of Tacos Avenue.
All these elements will be decisive in the future success of the franchise, whether it specializes in burgers, pizzas, sushi, or even Thai street food.
A successful franchisee must have sufficient personal capital to cover investment costs, a strong entrepreneurial spirit, solid team management experience, and a strong commitment to the brand's values. This rigorous selection process ensures customer satisfaction, which is essential in this sector.
Platforms such as Franchise Direct or Toute la Franchise enable franchisors and brand developers to be seen and to exhibit their brand on reference portals, in order to capture the interest of potential entrepreneurial candidates.
LinkedIn can also be a valuable resource for identifying and contacting potential candidates with specific skills.
Participating in trade fairs such as Franchise Expo Paris, offers a unique opportunity to meet candidates face-to-face and to present the franchise by staging your restaurant on the stand. Prepare attractive presentations, informative brochures and live demonstrations to attract and convince visitors.
To optimize the recruitment of new franchisees, it's essential to take advantage of referrals and not underestimate word-of-mouth. An effective referral program can play a key role in this process. By encouraging existing franchisees and other stakeholders to recommend candidates, and by offering attractive benefits, you can develop a dynamic and committed network. These benefits can take the form of reduced royalties, financial bonuses or official recognition within the network.
In addition, encouraging testimonials and positive reviews from current franchisees can greatly influence potential candidates. Your franchise is more credible and attractive thanks to feedback from satisfied franchisees who share their positive experiences and success stories. You can publish these reviews on your website, your social networks, or at recruitment events. As the fast-food sector is highly competitive, having an effective strategy of positive recommendations and testimonials will attract the best candidates and strengthen your brand's reputation.
To ensure a brand identity that is both attractive and unifying, it is essential to create and improve the brand platform, brandbook and graphic charter. It's important to have the tools you need to define your brand identity and share them with your entire network. Develop a clear, impactful message, tailored to the target audience, highlighting the real benefits of franchising and its return on investment. Lastly, promote your franchise: take care of the customer experience, design your point of sale and implement an effective digital strategy to get your message across to the right audience.
Recruiting fast food franchisees requires special attention. By focusing on finding qualified, motivated and well-financed candidates, you can increase your chances of success and ensure the sustainable, healthy growth of your franchise.
In-depth interviews are of paramount importance in gaining in-depth knowledge of potential candidates and assessing their suitability as franchisees. The use of behavioral and situational interviewing techniques enables us to assess candidates' reactions to various challenges, providing a clearer insight into their ability to handle complex situations. These assessments provide an objective analysis of personality traits, cognitive abilities and technical skills, ensuring that successful candidates not only possess the necessary qualifications, but are also a good fit with the brand's values and culture.
By scheduling visits to existing franchises, candidates can observe a franchise in action, giving them a clear picture of the day-to-day demands and challenges to be overcome. Immersion courses, even of short duration, offer future franchisees the chance to experience first-hand the role they are about to take on, making it easier for them to adapt and understand the responsibilities involved.
Initial training, combined with regular ongoing training, ensures the operational success of franchisees. It must include all aspects of management: operational, HR, local marketing, digitalization, as well as supply management and supplier relations. Training content must be comprehensive, covering all aspects of franchise management, including operations, marketing, human resources management and finance. To guarantee comprehensive, high-quality training, it is vital to involve both in-house experts with in-depth knowledge of the brand, and external experts able to bring fresh insight and specific skills.
Providing practical and logistical support for the inauguration of a new franchise is of paramount importance in ensuring a smooth transition and a good start to operations. This includes help with site selection, store design and layout, and coordination with suppliers to ensure that everything is in order for the big day. This logistical support aims to minimize errors and delays, promoting a fast and efficient start-up of the new restaurant.
Establishing a system of mentoring and regular follow-up is decisive in helping franchisees overcome initial challenges and ensure their long-term success. This includes one-to-one coaching sessions, frequent field visits from head office, and periodic performance reviews. Ongoing support makes franchisees feel supported and valued, which improves their commitment and motivation. By offering constant assistance, franchisors can also quickly identify potential problems and provide proactive solutions, ensuring the profitability and lasting success of each outlet.
By following these guidelines and focusing on the key aspects of recruiting and supporting franchisees, it's possible to build a solid, successful network. Whether it's a burger, pizza, sushi, coffee shop or bakery/pastry chain, every franchise needs to adopt a personalized and effective strategy to attract and retain the best franchisees. Fast food franchising represents a real opportunity for entrepreneurs. When choosing a franchise, you need to consider the entry fee, the financing, the quality of the concept and the efficiency of the recruitment and support process. By integrating these best practices, you'll build a solid, attractive network, guaranteeing sustainable growth and high levels of customer satisfaction.
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