Panda Express (franchise) is a fast-food chain that serves American-Chinese cuisine. If you are looking for a profitable investment, then Panda Express is a good option. The demand for Chinese food never depletes. Chinese food is one of the most popular cuisines in America. There are more Chinese restaurants in America than other restaurants like KFC, Wendy’s, etc.
Despite that, Panda Express is one of the very few to use technology to manage order at that time. They started bringing computerized systems for management when no one else knew about it.
When you hear American-Chinese, the first question that comes to your mind is whether it is American or Chinese. To be exact, it is a combination of both the cuisines. Two Chinese people adapted Chinese food for the American palate and thus it became American-Chinese.
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Table of Contents
Brand History
It started in 1983 by Andrew Cherng and Peggy Cherng. The two bakers fell in love and their love gave birth to this amazing Chinese food. The idea was to serve people the best American-Chinese cuisine and they never took their customers for granted. The chain started in the United States and then got spread to Mexico, Canada, Russia, the Philippines, and many more. The Cherng family has more than 2,000 Panda Express only in the United States by 2018.
The family knows its roots and future generations keep the legacy going. The family business knows how to impress customers.
Panda Express started from malls to stand-alone restaurants in casinos, universities, airports, and other venues.
The chain offers a wide variety of menu items like orange chicken, sweet fire chicken breast, grilled teriyaki chicken, honey walnut shrimps, fresh salads, etc.
Why Choose Panda Express?
It’s a big decision to open a franchise. Having a well-demanding franchise comes with a lot of perks. Working with a brand that is already recognizable, gives you the courage to start your own business without much risk. Panda Express has a well-grounded history of success. It has been around for over 30 years with no sign of stopping.
Panda Express is one of the best selling Chinese restaurants in the world. They maintain their standard by keeping their food authentic.
Once when Andrew was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, he told them that they had a back door to the restaurant and he would go to the parking lot and say, “Thank you for coming. I’m sorry we are crowded, but if you will wait, I’ll buy you a drink.” Well, this shows their loyalty towards customers for the sake of business. There cannot be any other franchise who would think up to this level for a good business.
Panda Express sells tons of orange chicken. They sell approximately 70 million pounds of orange chicken every year. It also has a vegetarian version of orange chicken with paneer for its Indian location. It is setting new franchise owners up for success with their products that is already in high demand in the market.
Panda Express has a positive growth for years now, by 2018 their rate growth was 78. This means that their restaurants are finding success and a positive rate growth indicates a well-balanced system
This is an important factor that one should consider before starting a franchise.
How to Join the Panda Express Franchise?
For having Panda Express, you can choose your territory. They do not offer territory rights to franchisees. But they will help you in locating a perfect spot for your restaurant.
Building requirement of food court should be 800 to 1000 sq ft with a minimum frontage of 24 ft, in line of 1,800 to 2,000 sq ft with minimum footage of 35 ft.
You should have high financial stability. As initially, it will take a good sum of money to start a Panda Food franchise.
Panda Express Franchise Cost
The figure for opening a single Panda Express might vary depending on the building is newly constructed or an existing one. As well as the geographical conditions.
Amounts paid to Panda Express are non-refundable.
- Initial license fee: $25,000 (non refundable)
- Lease of premises (initial 3 months rent) : $10,000 to $425,000
- Leasehold improvements: $80,000 to $500,000
- Furnitures, fixtures, Equipments, and Supplies: $90,000 to $220,000
- Initial Inventory: $2,200 to $10,000
- Computer hardware and Software: $14,000 to $21,000
- Non-resettable Cash Register:$6,000 to $8,000
- Insurance(Annual Premium): $30,000 to $75,000
- Expenses occutes during initial training: $13,000 to $29,000
- Architectural and Design fees: $17,000 to $35,000
- Construction Supervision: $17,000 to $50,000
- Sales Tax Deposits: $4,500 to $10,000
- Telephone, Fax, and other communication related fees– $500 to $1,000
- License and Permits: $1,500 to $30,000
- Miscellaneous funds: $0 to $10,000
- Additional funds(3 months): $60,000 to $110,000
- Total: $377,100 to $1,559,00
In preparing the figures, Panda Express relied on its affiliates’ over 21 years of experience in the restaurant business.
Employees in Panda Express
Employees are as important as customers. To maintain a good business it is very important to train the employees properly. Giving the employees the salary they deserve and keeping them happy and safe in their work is important as well. Panda Express believes in treating its employees rightly. The managers give them proper training and maintain a healthy relationship with the employees
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Profit Potential
One of the outlets of Panda Express brings about $4 million a year, the Ala Moana Center food court in Honolulu, Hawaii. This depicts the profit potential of Panda Food Franchise.
Panda Cares (Charity)
Established in 1999, panda cares aims to bring hope to the underserved youth and kids. They give some part of their profit for charity work.
- Panda cares foundation box is also located in every outlet, where customers can contribute directly.
- Since 1999, Panda cares has raised $107 million with $89 million coming from in house donation box.
- It has given nearly $41 million to the Leader In Me, a program that teaches leadership and life skills.
- It also has partnerships with some of the hospitals.
This is a very nice initiative started by the Panda Express group to help the needy. It impacts lives and strives to give opportunities to future generations.
Contact Information
Panda Restaurant Group
Guest Relations
P.O. Box 1159
Rosemead, CA 91770
Conclusion
Panda Express is the most preferable food joint by the people. They have maintained their standard for years. They assure you to give good quality and hygienic food. It would be easy to gain customers who have already tried the food at Panda Express because they know that they get the best food there.
Chinese food never becomes out of fashion. If there are 10 people in a room, 8 out it 10 would be preferring Chinese food over any other food. And American-Chinese cuisine adds cherry to the cake.
People love more choices and Panda Express keeps introducing new choices. The pros of buying Panda Food Franchise is, it’s the brand name. By opening an outlet of an already famous brand there are fewer chances of risk and one should always think about all the risks before starting any business.
So, if you want to start a franchise with a well-known brand, then Panda Express is the best option.
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