University students and community members alike know Thomas Sweet as an ice cream store that serves rich, homemade ice cream in a family-friendly atmosphere.
Now the shop is set to make its mark 12,000 miles away; Owner Marco Cucchi plans to open 200 Thomas Sweet ice cream stores in China over the next four years in accordance with a deal made this summer, which is estimated to be worth over $1 million.
The first store will open next August in Wuhan, Hubei — the country’s second largest city after Shanghai — according to the China-U.S. Business Leaders’ Roundtable Foundation executive director John Leagh.
The goal is then for Thomas Sweet to expand to southern and coastal cities in China, including Shanghai and Guangzhou, he added. Only then will Thomas Sweet aim to expand to all other major Chinese cities.
“It’s a mutual leap of faith: They don’t have a great deal of knowledge of ice cream, and we don’t have a great deal of knowledge of China,” Cucchi told U.S. 1 Newspaper. “We need each other to be successful.”
Because this arrangement is not a franchise, China does not need to follow established operating guidelines for the original Thomas Sweet in Princeton.
This means that, while operators in the country can use the store’s recipes and procedure manuals, they can also choose not to follow them. The Thomas International Group has obtained the right to use the Thomas Sweet brand in China while still being able to sell what it wants through a licensing agreement signed by Cucchi.
Cucchi explained that he is relatively unconcerned with the possibility that Thomas Sweet stores in China will drift from the original brand, creating flavors such as red bean and lychee that are more appealing to Chinese palates. Cucchi also noted that this issue is common with any international venture.
He explained, however, that one remaining concern is the prevalence of lactose intolerance in the Chinese market.
But Thomas Sweet in China could add frozen yogurt to their menu and otherwise experiment with the original Thomas Sweet flavors, he explained, which would be a reasonable solution to this issue.
Plans for the deal began in December 2010, and the deal was closed in April 2011.
Besides Cucchi and Leagh, Thomas Sweet founder Tom Block was also present at the closing of the deal, and an 11-person training team from China was brought to the Princeton location over Memorial Day weekend.
Cucchi and his business partner, local lawyer David Neufeld, will receive a monthly fee for each newly opened store in China. The seven-figure deal will involve quarterly payments for each month a store is open in China.
Cucchi said he plans to remain in contact with his new partners and travel to China once a year.
Thomas Sweet currently has five locations, including two in the Princeton Borough, one in both Montgomery and New Brunswick counties, and one in Washington, D.C.
Other U.S. ice cream companies that have expanded to China have included Cold Stone Creamery, Baskin-Robbins and Dairy Queen.
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