A Magyarországi Franchise Szövetség
The Hungarian Franchise Association was established in May 1991 by 17 companies operating in different fields of franchising. Among these there were two Hungarian franchises called City Grill and McDonald's. Of all these founders only McDonald's has remained the member of the Hungarian Franchise Association, others were replaced by new-comer franchise companies.
20% of all franchise companies in Hungary are members of the Hungarian Franchise Association. This is a good background to do significant lobby activity for the ethical operation of franchise businesses. The Hungarian Franchise Association assists franchisees to operate according to the European Codes of Ethics. There are no additional regulations for franchise operations in Hungary.
Magyarországi franchise vállalkozások
Although franchise appeared in Hungary in the late seventies and early eighties of the last century the conditions of real franchising were created only after the socio-economic changes from 1989. Before that some state-owned companies reached agreements with franchisors operating in the field of tourism. Hotel chains and rent-a-car services established themselves in this way first.
Currently there some 400-450 companies exist in Hungary which qualify themselves as, or claim to be franchises. Among these companies many offer multi-level marketing systems as franchise activity or they use the word franchise to sell their businesses in a fashionable and sophisticated way, while they are neither legally nor financially independent companies or partnerships. Apart from these operations the Hungarian franchise community consists of approximately 300 companies. The number of franchisees is approximately 20.000 in Hungary and 100.000 employees work in the franchise sector including suppliers.
50% of franchise systems are based on Hungarian ideas and owned by Hungarian companies as well. The other 50% are international licenses coordinated by either subsidiaries of international companies or Hungarian companies owned by Hungarian master licensees.
There is a continuous interest in franchising in Hungary based on the last 15 years of experience. Entrepreneurs contact the Hungarian Franchise Association on weekly basis inquiring about starting franchise operations or seeking international business partners.
Several Hungarian franchise companies do international activity successfully. Most of them expand their operations in countries around Hungary under master license agreements. MOL the Hungarian gas station company is among these franchises but there are smaller companies as well, for example Gardenia curtains manufacturer and its retail network or Diego's floor covering system. Fornetti (bakery products) has the biggest international network.
A McDonald's Magyarországon
1955 was an important year in the history of franchises. It was then that a Californian restaurant owner founded McDonald’s System Corporation, one of the world’s most successful and best known franchise systems. At present McDonald’s operates over 10,000 fast food restaurants, quite a few of them in Hungary.
At the beginning McDonald's was a joint venture in Hungary where the largest state farm directed by one of the members of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party became the partner of the US based company. McDonald's became one of the founding members of the Hungarian Franchise Association.
21. századi közoktatás - fejlesztés, koordináció (TÁMOP-3.1.1-08/1-2008-0002)
