Coffee with a Latin flavor
Panaderia Taza serves up pan dulce instead of scones, has big plans for franchise.
The stainless steel counters and tidy shelves filled with bagged coffee beans at Panaderia Taza are standard coffeehouse decor, but the pastry case isn't filled with muffins and scones.
It's lined with conchas, Mexican sweet breads, and empanadas, triangle-shaped crust filled with fruit or custard. And the coffee is Mexican brand Cafe Combate.
Panaderia Taza is a coffeehouse targeted specifically at Hispanics, a market growing so rapidly here and elsewhere in the United States that the bakery's owners plan to franchise it soon.
"We just want to be ahead of the curve," said Peter Conforto, president and chief executive of Masa Men, the management company that opened Panaderia Taza in June.
Ethnic markets and mom-and-pop bakeries have long been tucked in urban shopping centers, but with Hispanics making up the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, entrepreneurs like Masa Men and others are looking to build slicker models that can be franchised. Conforto and the other two executives at Masa Men see an opportunity to create an expandable business model specifically catering to Hispanics.
Masa Men is run by Conforto, who was a Blimpie International franchiser and is currently opening a chain of tea shops called Tealuxe; Lee Cohn, who has opened a series of 1950s-themed Ed Debevic's diners; and Todd Belfer, who co-founded RA Sushi Bar Restaurants, an upscale group sold to Benihana Inc. in 2002.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - AP
It's lined with conchas, Mexican sweet breads, and empanadas, triangle-shaped crust filled with fruit or custard. And the coffee is Mexican brand Cafe Combate.
Panaderia Taza is a coffeehouse targeted specifically at Hispanics, a market growing so rapidly here and elsewhere in the United States that the bakery's owners plan to franchise it soon.
"We just want to be ahead of the curve," said Peter Conforto, president and chief executive of Masa Men, the management company that opened Panaderia Taza in June.
Ethnic markets and mom-and-pop bakeries have long been tucked in urban shopping centers, but with Hispanics making up the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, entrepreneurs like Masa Men and others are looking to build slicker models that can be franchised. Conforto and the other two executives at Masa Men see an opportunity to create an expandable business model specifically catering to Hispanics.
Masa Men is run by Conforto, who was a Blimpie International franchiser and is currently opening a chain of tea shops called Tealuxe; Lee Cohn, who has opened a series of 1950s-themed Ed Debevic's diners; and Todd Belfer, who co-founded RA Sushi Bar Restaurants, an upscale group sold to Benihana Inc. in 2002.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - AP
