Qwelli Gelato Plans Significant Growth and Franchise Partnerships [Interview]

The Montreal-based gelato brand Qwelli has its roots going back to 1987 with the acquisition of an ice cream shop in Chomedey.

Today, the company has 11 locations and is poised for growth, looking to expand by several stores in the next few years and partnering with franchise owners.

Jean-Francois Beetz, Chairman and CEO of Qwelli, said the family-owned business was started by his parents.

“My sisters and I and my cousin grew up in the business,” said Beetz. “It’s been a lifelong project we’ve been working on.”

After its inception, the company manufactured gelato in 2003 for the first time. In 2010, it opened its first factory and in 2012 the transfer of ownership took place to a new generation. 

“My sisters and I worked on finding ways to improve the business, improve the concept . . . The main thing that happened in the last few years is that my sister and I, the second generation, took over, although my dad is still working with us, and we quickly realized in the early 2000s that gelato was the king of desserts, the high end in the frozen dessert industry,” said Beetz.

“So we moved from ice cream to gelato almost 25 years ago . . . There’s a lot of differences between ice cream and gelato. We mastered it over the years. We’re artists. So we took it to another level. We’re experts in gelato but we’re really artists of gelato. We took the brand that used to be called Paysanne Gelato at the time and we’ve tried to evolve the brand, the products, the business model.”

In 2021, it became Qwelli.

In its expansion, the brand is working with Oakmont Real Estate Services Canada Inc.

“It’s been truly a pleasure working alongside the Beetz family and having been privy to their continued evolution and growth. When it comes to authentic gelato, they are best in class and this next step milestone in their development will allow more Canadians to discover what we’ve already known,” said Roula Bchara, Managing Partner, Business Development of Oakmount.

“We are currently looking for open-air locations ranging from 800-1,200 square feet. These locations must have the ability to house outdoor seating and should be located near commercial arteries with residential housing nearby and with neighbouring food and entertainment.

“We are actively looking for opportunities within the greater Montreal region and have identified specific regions and zones. We invite everyone to reach out to us for further information or to add themselves to our mailing list to receive our flyers.”

Beetz said the company opened its new production facility in 2020 and with the rebrand it makes Qwelli ready to move on to the next step which is the expansion.

Currently there are 10 stores open. The 11th store will open in mid-August in Royalmount in Montreal. All the stores are in Quebec.

“But we’re looking into the Ontario market and maybe more,” said Beetz. 

“We’re really not trying to fix a number . . . Within the next two to three years we definitely want to go up to 25, 30 maybe. But it’s always going to depend on the quality of the location. Right now everything is corporate owned but we’re opening the market for franchisee partners to join with us. It’s going to help us grow but we’re still going to be looking at quality locations and this is mostly going to be the trigger for the growth, the speed at which we’re going to grow.

“We’re already negotiating right now with many locations so we’re confident that we’re going to be able to reach these numbers within the next two to three years.”