Zip Dhanani, CEO, The Bread Garden

The Bread Garden, Vancouver’s original bakery café, recently opened in Whistler.

“Our goal has always been to open up in Whistler,” said Zip Dhanani, president and CEO of the company.

The Bread Garden had been eying Whistler for about four years but it wasn’t until the right location became available at a reasonable lease rate that the company moved in.

“Honestly, the Olympics are a bonus. But we are not (in Whistler) just for the Olympic Games. We have signed a 20-year lease and we intend to be there for the long term.”

But Olympic opportunities are on the horizon. Bread Garden will be providing food service to NBC staff while they are in Whistler.

And there is no doubt the Games will raise the profile of the company, which opened its newest franchise in Australia in June.

“Visitors will be here from all over the world, so it does give us a higher profile being in this location,” said Dhanani.
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Including planned openings, the chain will operate 17 Bread Garden Urban Cafés.

“We’re looking at 70% revenue growth this year,” said Bread Garden Urban Café president and CEO Zip Dhanani. “That’s not bad for a company in this economic climate.”

Dhanani, who sold Bread Garden franchise rights to Denver, Colorado based Spicy Pickle Franchising Inc. for “several million dollars” in cash and shares on October 1, 2008, added that chain-wide gross sales jumped 20% to $6 million in 2008.

http://www.spicypickle.com/news/breadgarden.html
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