That's a wrap: How Pita Pit went from one NZ store to more than 100 in a decade

When Canadian food chain Pita Pit opened in New Zealand a decade ago, it was the first time a store had been tried outside of North America.

But now, there are more than 100 stores across the country, 14 in Australia, more than 80 franchisees, and upwards of 1200 employees.

Pita Pit New Zealand director Chris Henderson reckoned this was no way near "peak" pita, however.

"I think it depends on every move we make from now.

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"Because if we did the same thing as yesterday we get the same results - and that's good, don't get me wrong, but if you look around every other industry, every food offering is doing something healthy.

"And that's not good enough, healthy is not good enough now, it was good 10 years ago, but it's now a point of entry just to open a food shop."

Henderson brought Pita Pit, which makes customised pita wraps and originated in Canada 10 years earlier, to the country in August 2007, after turning his one-year OE into six seasons as a ski instructor in California.

A store opened in the local ski resort, but he said the lightbulb did not go off until he was getting on a plane to come home and make something of his life.

As a fan of the food, he figured there might be a commercial opportunity in New Zealand, where there was not a lot of "healthier, better choices".

Together with Duane Dalton, the teachers-turned-business partners secured the rights to Australasia and opened the first store in Auckland's Takapuna: one they still own.

"It was a massive learning curve bringing a new brand, that hadn't been proven around the world, except in Canada and America."

Henderson said customers responded well in the first few years, but as the global financial crisis hit at about the same time, the resulting credit crunch made it hard to attract franchisees until 2010.

Then, the real growth came, with Pita Pit "rocketing" up by 15 to 20 stores on average every year.

Henderson said this was ahead of its agreement with head office in Canada, and ahead of his own expectations as well.

"We had to open a lot of stores, but not 100.

"I guess we're proud of that because a lot of people could have just thrown in the towel after a year or two."

Henderson believed Pita Pit's surge in popularity was because it was a healthier option for consumers, with lower sugar, grilled meats and healthier fillings.

This was enough to differentiate it from "another sandwich chain in the market, the largest one in the world".

The company appeared on the Deloitte Fast 50 rankings in 2013 and 2014 when its sales growth was above 200 per cent, and last year Henderson and Dalton were finalists in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Sales growth over the last three years had averaged 25 per cent.

There had not been any store failures yet, "touch wood", but with 51 in Auckland and a New Zealand target of about 150, store growth would mostly come in Australia, where he thought the opportunity was huge.

"We could keep going, but we're very mindful of our local store owners and making sure there's a good territory for them and profitability.

"When it starts to get too big, like other brands have done, you start to internally erode."

Henderson said the company invested a lot of time into its franchisee support, and two years ago developed a business coaching network.

Each coach looked after about 20 outlets, and the company's 80 or so franchisees were very diverse.

"That coach needs to understand the nuances of every single franchisee and how he or she can work differently with every single franchisee, rather than paint a brush over every franchisee expecting every franchisee to be the same."

Pita Pit franchisee Grant Henderson, no relation, opened a stored in Lower Hutt in 2012, had owned one in Petone, and was about to open another in Upper Hutt.

He said he and his wife looked around various business opportunities, but settled on Pita Pit because it was a new brand which he thought had potential.

Head office had been supportive, and there had been a lot of changes over the years, but he said it was incumbent on franchisees to do the hard work.

"Unless you're prepared to live the franchise and work it the way they tell you, don't bother. I'm still passionate about the brand, otherwise I wouldn't be opening another store."

Last month, Pita Pit went free-range chicken, eggs and free-farmed bacon in its stores, as it shifted its focus to innovation in a world where being healthy was no longer good enough.

Henderson said it had invested in total disclosure about its food from field to plate, and was on a path towards sustainable packaging, which the franchise had taken the hit on, rather than the customer through increased prices.

"I know consumers want it, it's important, it's important to us, ethically. And secondly it opens up with the volumes.

"For example, with the 350 tonnes of chicken that we'll do this year, 55 tonnes of bacon and 100,000 eggs around the country, it allows the smaller guys, smaller food operators to be able to come in off the back of those volumes to make it easier and affordable to purchase ethically sourced foods."