Growing a franchise is about far more than opening new locations. As a network expands, maintaining consistent quality, operational excellence and brand standards becomes increasingly challenging. During this Food Hotel Tech roundtable, Otto Nijdam (Choukran), Alizée Fontaine (Chamas Group), Eric Batany and Baptiste Fauque (ePackPro) explored how structured processes and digital tools help franchise networks scale without compromising their identity.

When Chamas Tacos operated around 40 restaurants, much of its know-how relied on individual experience rather than documented procedures. Recipes varied slightly between locations, suppliers differed from one franchisee to another, and operational practices were not yet fully standardized.

Today, with more than 115 restaurants, the group has formalized its recipes, centralized purchasing and documented operational procedures to ensure customers enjoy the same experience wherever they visit. As Alizée Fontaine explained, a franchise ultimately sells a reproducible concept, meaning consistency is essential to protecting the brand.

For Otto Nijdam, founder of Choukran, franchisees are not simply buying a brand name—they are investing in a proven business model, operating methods and customer promise.

That is why operational processes must be established early. Product quality, traceability, kitchen workflows and service standards should not depend on individual employees but on systems that can easily be replicated as the network grows.

The discussion highlighted that digitalization is no longer just about regulatory compliance.

Digital HACCP management, temperature monitoring, traceability and equipment checks allow restaurant teams to simplify daily operations while significantly reducing operational risks. Managers gain real-time visibility across multiple locations, enabling them to identify issues before they become critical.

Rather than reacting to problems during health inspections, operators can anticipate and resolve them proactively.

As franchise networks expand, dashboards become essential management tools.

At Chamas Group, network managers use digital reporting to monitor restaurants remotely and quickly identify locations requiring additional support between on-site visits. Automatic alerts make it easier to detect operational deviations before they affect performance.

Choukran has taken this one step further by integrating artificial intelligence to combine data from purchasing, accounting, sales and operational systems. Instead of manually reviewing hundreds of reports, managers receive targeted alerts highlighting unusual costs, purchasing discrepancies or operational anomalies.

The objective is not to replace people, but to help them focus on the issues that truly matter.

While operational consistency is essential, the speakers agreed that not everything should be standardized.

At Chamas Group, customer interactions still leave room for each team's personality. Service quality, friendliness and hospitality remain human qualities that cannot simply be written into an operating manual.

The key is knowing what must be standardized—food safety, recipes, operational procedures—and what should remain authentic to preserve genuine customer relationships.

One of the strongest messages from the discussion was that operational structuring should not wait until a franchise becomes large.

Although many brands initially prioritize expansion before formalizing their processes, all participants agreed that documenting procedures from the beginning makes future growth significantly easier. Training new teams is far more efficient when clear standards already exist than when long-established habits need to be changed later.

Ultimately, risk management is about much more than compliance.

Consistent product quality, customer satisfaction, operational visibility and the ability to reproduce a successful business model are all essential ingredients for sustainable franchise growth.

Digital solutions are therefore not the end goal. They are practical tools that enable restaurant brands to scale confidently while protecting the quality, consistency and reputation that made their concept successful in the first place.