Continuing its recent partnerships with the likes of the International Franchise Association and the Hungarian Franchise Association, Global Franchise is expanding its content partnership network.
Global Franchise is very excited to announce yet another expansion to its international network of associations, with the news of the Israel Franchise Institute (IFI) joining several other industry-leading organizations sharing knowledge, research, and franchise best practice.
James Fell, editor of Global Franchise, said: “We look forward to working closely with Steven and the IFI to cover Israel’s evolving franchise market in more detail, shining a light on its emerging concepts and providing our international readership with valuable expansion insight.
“Steven’s passion for ethical franchising is infectious and aligns with our editorial standards perfectly.”
The IFI was founded by South African entrepreneur Steven Wolfson, who immigrated to Israel over 35 years ago. Steven is passionate about ethical franchising and is chairman of the Franchise Regulation Committee of LAHAV, which is the Israel Chamber of Independent Organizations and Businesses, founded in 1983 to represent and promote the interests of the self-employed and small and medium businesses (SMB).
Today, this sector in Israel numbers some 450,000 independent breadwinners and entrepreneurs who employ over a million people in Israel.
Steven has also worked with many international brands, including a tenure of close to a decade with the global sandwich franchisor, Subway. The IFI was also awarded ‘Best Franchise Development & Education Consultancy in Israel’ by the MEA Business Awards Committee in 2020.
The franchise industry in Israel is substantial, consisting of over 300 franchise brands and totaling approximately 4,000 franchisees.
“The franchising industry has become a major player in Israel’s economy” said Wolfson. “In recent years, we are also seeing more and more non-food and restaurant brands emerging, covering all aspects of business such as education, real estate, and more.
“Prior to the COVID pandemic, Israel (otherwise known as “The Startup Nation”) enjoyed a strong and stable economy with a low unemployment rate. With Israel working towards being COVID-free thanks to its aggressive national vaccination effort before most other countries, the country will have its business sector back in full swing before the summer of 2021. This makes Israel an ideal country in which to consider expanding new International franchise brands.
“Our differentiation in Israel focuses on international franchising, so we are best positioned to assist international franchise brands enter Israel, and I would like to personally invite you to reach out to me with any questions about how best to expand into this dynamic country.
“Its also worthy of mentioning the recent Abraham Accords, and the normalization of diplomatic ties with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, which has resulted in IFI being able to broker international franchise-related deals across the Middle East in cooperation with its strategic partner based in Dubai.
“We at IFI are excited about the future and are honored to be included in this important partnership initiative with the Global Franchise magazine”.
