FranchiseCanada September | October 2017 91Business
is (baby)
booming!
There are now more seniors
than children in Canada.*- Own your own franchise
delivering frozen meals to
seniors - Proven growth opportunity
- $0 royalty and $0 ad fund
- Limited territories
remaining in Ontario,
Manitoba & Nova Scotia
CFA
Franchisees’
Choice
2017Call Michael Gazer, President,
at 1.800.268.8199 x251 or visit
HeartToHomeMealsFranchise.ca*Source: Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of PopulationSo much so that in 2000, when Tremblay was called upon to assess
Pacini and guide the company in its search for a new president, he was
asked to fill the position himself. Tremblay happily obliged. “I was a
complete fan of the chain,” he says. “I was living beside a Pacini restau-
rant at the time, ate there often, and knew everything about it.”
TRANSFORMATION
As the company’s new President and CEO, Tremblay soon became
aware that many of the brand’s 27 restaurants were underperforming.
While they were pulling in $24 million in annual sales, this came to
less than $1 million per restaurant, and revenue had been slipping for
years. By comparison, an average Pacini restaurant earns well over $2
million in sales today, with some earning over $3 million.
Tremblay set to work transforming the chain into a more profitable
business. Key to his strategy was retooling the concept into an upmar-
ket, more authentic Italian eating experience. “When I joined the com-
pany, it was a typical low-to-mid-end American-Italian restaurant, and
my thought at the time was to change it completely into a mid-to-high-
end, more genuine Italian restaurant,” he explains. “I saw a huge oppor-
tunity, because there really was no other Italian restaurant franchise
operating in that high-end space.”
So began Tremblay’s dogged effort to infuse the Pacini brand with a
true sense of la dolce vita. Together with his team, he travelled to Italy
to research the local cuisine and introduce new dishes and ingredients
to the menu. Heavy, starchy pizzas loaded with every imaginable top-
ping were pushed aside in favour of thin-crusted Roman-style pizzas
with arugula, Italian prosciutto, and real mozzarella, among other top-
pings. Says Tremblay: “What I’ve done since joining the company in
2000 is strengthen the integrity of the menu and its Italian influence.”
Pacini staff began to travel to Italy to learn about Italian food and
cooking at the Pacini Culinary Academy – a special training facility set
up in 2004 in Basano del Grappa, near Venice. The goal, says Tremblay,
was to get every employee to “fall in love with Italy.” The restaurant
also started importing key ingredients, and even some of the kitchen
equipment made the trip across the Atlantic. The prosciutto slicer, for
instance, is an Italian-made hand-cranked slicer rather than the more
economical mechanical versions used in most Canadian kitchens. “It’s
the little things that make a difference, and it’s been a continuous evo-
lution,” notes Tremblay.
LEADERSHIP PROFILE
“WHEN I JOINED PACINI, I HAD A
VISION, AND IN 15 YEARS, THIS VISION
HAS NEVER CHANGED. I WANT TO
BRING WHAT I LOVE ABOUT ITALY TO
CANADIANS AND AMERICANS. THAT
REMAINS MY GOAL.”