The ice cream franchise La Michoacana has announced that its foreign expansion drive is going well.
The company has 50 parlors around the United States in cities such as Chicago, Dallas and Nashville. There is one parlor in the Dominican Republic and two or three are set to open in Panama before the end of the year.
In the United States, the model is succeeding partly because the parlors also offer Mexican snacks like esquites (corn-cups), nachos and yoghurt with fruits.
It costs US$35,000 to open a parlor under La Michoacana brand name in the United States.
The brand originated in Tocumbo, Michoacan, in the 1930s. In Mexico, the franchise can be found in an estimated about 1,000 locations.
The chain is an informal network of family-run businesses and no single company operates them. This informal structure has led to some 8-15,000 “pirate” parlors that are not affiliated with La Michoacana brand but use its name.