Tariq Farid: Sweet Success with Edible Arrangements

Edible (formerly Edible Arrangements) developed and popularized the concept of a fruit arrangement, introducing a new category of food. The brainchild behind fresh fruit arrangements is Tariq Farid, an immigrant who struck out on his own at the tender age of 17 and bootstrapped his way to growth. Success came quickly, and it wasn’t long before Edible franchisees began cropping up in the U.S. and internationally.

A multimillion-dollar business today, Edible has refreshed its brand and seen franchisees hit $1 million in sales. Edible has remained resilient, much like its founder Tariq, who started the $600 million business from scratch. Not one to chase after money, Tariq believes in a measured and steady path to success. 

Pakistan to Connecticut

Tariq moved from Pakistan to Connecticut with his family when he was twelve years old. His father had emigrated to the U.S. in the seventies and worked as a machinist. Tariq took up jobs to help his family make ends meet, working in a variety of odd jobs, including at a flower shop, which sparked his interest in florals. During his time there, Tariq developed a computerized point-of-sale system for floral shops and, in 1991, started a business selling computer systems to floral retailers. 

Melding the technical side with floral training, he conceived the idea of setting up a business selling fruit arrangements. At 30, he opened the first Edible Arrangements store in his hometown New Haven. He was rejected for a loan of $120,000 as the bank believed that the idea for a fruit basket wasn’t going to work. Tariq persisted, putting his own money and growing Edible Arrangements into a family-managed empire. Today, there are thousands of Edible franchisees selling fruit baskets, speciality fruit gift items, baked goods, and real flowers. 

From handcrafting to automation while bootstrapped

Tariq had first-hand knowledge of the difficulty of creating elaborate flower arrangements. He discovered that creating beautiful fruit baskets was no different. Making each one by hand took considerable time, sometimes taking all day. As orders began pouring in, Tariq knew it was time to automate the process and made visits to China to buy equipment. He initially considered food-safe containers, but as they couldn’t hold fruit arrangements, they had to get their own containers. Tariq started enhancing the business infrastructure with sourcing, a website, and a point-of-sale system. 

Managing cash flow is paramount for a bootstrapped business. Tariq managed within his means by negotiating with the landlord and vendors while focusing on delivering consistent quality and creating happy customers who would refer Edible to others. The strategy worked and became a best practice, as evidenced by the company’s low debt and ‘customer is king’ mantra. 

Franchising Edible Arrangements after two years in business

Edible Arrangements was franchised within two years of launching. Tariq had plans to scale but wasn’t clear on the route. Franchising was an option for he was familiar with the model, having worked at a McDonald’s as a teen. Somewhat serendipitously, the idea crystallized when one day, a man from Boston came to his store and offered to build it into a franchise. Tariq jumped at the chance, and from then on, there was no turning back. Sales were robust and stayed that way. At the beginning of 2017, there were more than 1,100 stores, making over $560 million in annual sales. 

The company has been featured on Entrepreneur magazine’s annual list of the top 500 franchises, ranking number 40, and made it to the magazine’s list of top global franchises and fastest-growing franchises for five consecutive years. It was also ranked number one on the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 successively between 2007 and 2013. In 2011, Forbes magazine ranked Edible as number nine on its list of ‘Top 50 Franchises to Start’. Edible also found a place in Internet Retailermagazine’s ‘Top 100 Internet Retailers’ list. 

Customization-led growth and rising sales during the pandemic

According to Tariq, the economic landscape dictates Edible’s sales; so long as people are celebrating, there will be a need for the company’s products. But it was during a time of anxiety and isolation when celebrations had pretty much come to a standstill, that Edible’s sales soared. 

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge rush for online food and grocery deliveries. Identifying a need to fulfill this demand, Edible began selling boxes of whole fruit and vegetables. The company suddenly became essential and stayed open during the authorized closures. Workloads at franchises grew manifold, with anxious out-of-state parents ordering fruit and vegetable baskets for their adult children, offices sending Edible Arrangements to co-workers out with COVID-19, and people sending boxes to elderly relatives avoiding grocery store trips and family members in assisted living facilities. 

Tariq believes that customizing each franchise store for the neighborhood it operates plays a key part in sales growth. The company has a target for each of its franchises to achieve a million or million-odd in average sales. The franchise owner has the job to know the neighborhood well and tailor advertisements and promotions accordingly. Edible allows customers and prospects to track new products and company happenings on a daily basis, which is important to ensuring a consistently engaging experience. The company recognizes the potential of websites and social media to interact with customers in real time. 

Quality over quantity

The strength of franchise systems typically does not lie in the absolute quality of the products offered. Rather, it has largely to do with the capacity of the franchised chain to offer a uniform product at a reasonable price. Tariq takes a slightly different view, believing that success is a matter of quality and not necessarily quantity. As an 18-year-old running a business, he would bemoan a lack of sales, and his mother would advise him to stop chasing money, as it runs really fast, and instead focus on doing the right things as that would chase him.

Tariq has stuck to the mantra ‘customer is king’ and never compromising on quality. He also supports a work-life balance and believes that Edible offers it. He stresses maintaining good brand health, which is possible by rising steadily as opposed to accelerating forward and losing money. From $192,000 in the first year to $600 million today, Edible has undergone a journey and kept a good pace. But it has not always been smooth sailing for the company. 

Dealing with losses and lawsuits

Edible has undergone its fair share of troubles with sales and franchisees and come out on top. Between 2017 and 2019, sales declined by double digits. The novelty of sending loved ones fresh fruit arrangements appeared to have worn off, and the competition had become tougher due to more fruit basket sellers entering the fray. When the pandemic hit, the company realized that it could not continue relying on its signature product. Edible underwent a transformation of sorts.

It expanded its offerings, and now sells a number of items one can buy at other retailers. It has a fleet of on-staff delivery personnel to bring orders straight to customers’ doors. However, Tariq’s interest in selling CBD-laced goods via a new affiliate company Incredible Edibles, angered franchisees, who argued in their lawsuit against the company that the fees they paid were going towards the launch of Incredible Edibles rather than strengthening Edible Arrangements, as required by the franchisee contract. 

There were other troubles brewing. Franchisees are typically required to buy supplies from vendors selected by the parent company. In Edible’s case, many of those vendors are owned by Tariq and family. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge, who ruled that per their Edible contract, franchisees must proceed individually through arbitration. 

Despite the complaints, Edible franchisees are making good sales. According to 2020 data, the median Edible store operating for at least three years had made about $577,000, or roughly $169,000 more than the year previously. While the franchise count has fallen in the last four years, a record-breaking number of stores made $1 million in sales in 2020. Forty succeeded at this milestone that year, and 79 in 2021.

Philanthropy and life lessons

Tariq and his wife run the Tariq and Asma Farid Foundation, which helps provide basic needs of food and healthcare and improve lives through education and skill development opportunities. Tariq believes that he is blessed to achieve the success he has and must, therefore, pay it forward. 

On success, Tariq says that opportunity is what you chase and risk is what you mitigate. There are opportunities everywhere disguised as challenges – if you can find them and convince yourself to chase them, the possibilities are endless. 

He follows the 60-20-20 rule: spending 60 percent of your time planning for the future, 20 percent reflecting on the past, and 20 percent maintaining the present. Tariq also believes in working hard and smart. Without putting in effort, it is easy to get lost in the throng of people who want to achieve their dreams. Being tactical and putting in the effort will help you set yourself apart.