Franchising market in Russia and Volgograd region: current state and directions of development

Widespread franchising in the world today is explained by the opportunity it offers: substantial reduction of costs for business ideas development and implementation. The present research is focused on the analysis of dynamics and composition of the franchise market in Russia and Volgograd region. The comparative analysis, historical and statistical methods are used. The comparative assessment of the dynamics and sectoral composition of the world and Russian franchising markets for the period 2014-2020 makes it possible to identify a prospective franchising in Russia and Volgograd region, i.e. businesses of healthy food. It is shown that currently such kind of franchising is difficult to put into practice due to the lack of high quality food produced in Russia and limited target market. It is demonstrated that a number of trends contribute to an increased use of franchising while the opening of healthy food restaurants in recent years: lower initial investments as compared to fast-food restaurants; production growth of food products in Russia; changes in lifestyle and increased demand for public catering; increased consumption of “good” food; mass sports and healthy lifestyle which have become popular both in Russia and Volgograd region. The comparison of positive and negative factors leads to the conclusion that it is prospective to use franchising while opening healthy food catering businesses in Russia and Volgograd region. The franchising can increase its share in GDP, contribute to the turnover growth of public catering companies and better public health.