Cora

Name

Cora

Legal name

Franchises Cora Inc.

Website

https://chezcora.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Cora is a Canadian franchise restaurant chain operating 125+ breakfast and lunch locations across nine provinces, serving families and consumers with crêpes, omelettes, and fruit-forward dishes under a franchise model with proprietary branding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Breakfast and Lunch Restaurants

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Chains & Franchise Cafes (THAFADAB)

Keywords

• Breakfast restaurants
• Lunch restaurants
• Franchise restaurants
• Casual dining
• Catering services

Headquarters

HQ city

Sainte-thérèse

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Restaurant food and beverage sales: Revenue generated from food and beverage sales at franchised restaurant locations. Customers pay for breakfast and lunch menu items including crêpes, eggs, waffles, pancakes, sandwiches, and beverages.
2. Franchise fees and royalties: Revenue from franchise operators who pay licensing fees and ongoing royalties to operate Cora restaurants under the brand.
3. Online ordering: Customers can place orders online through order.chezcora.com for delivery or take-out, generating transaction revenue.
4. Gift cards: Sale of Cora gift cards (carte-cadeau) for use at restaurant locations.
5. Loyalty program: The Mordus de Cora loyalty program where customers earn points on purchases.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cora operates a Canadian franchise restaurant chain serving breakfast and lunch menus at 125+ locations nationwide. Beyond dine-in service, the company extends its brand through online ordering, catering, gift cards, a customer loyalty program, Cora-branded grocery products, and franchise opportunities.

Product overview

Cora Breakfast and Lunch is a Canadian franchise restaurant chain specializing in breakfast and lunch service with over 125 franchised locations from coast to coast. The company operates a unified restaurant concept featuring colourful, fruit-filled dishes including crêpes, omelettes, Ben and Dictine, skillets, waffles, pancakes, French toast, and specialty beverages. Supporting the core restaurant business, Cora offers an online ordering platform, a loyalty program (Programme Fidélité Cora / Mordus de Cora), gift cards, and grocery products (pancake mix, waffle mix, crêpe mix, muffin mixes, syrups, and spreads). The brand also maintains a personal touch through Mme Cora's Sunday Letters blog written by founder Cora Tsouflidou, and offers franchise opportunities for entrepreneurs seeking to join the chain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Breakfast and Lunch Restaurant Meals Dine-in restaurant service featuring breakfast and lunch menus for individual consumers and families at franchised locations across Canada.
• Catering Services Catering offering for events, group orders, and corporate occasions based on Cora's breakfast and lunch menu.
• Gift Cards Stored-value gift cards redeemable at Cora restaurant locations across Canada.
• Cora-Branded Grocery Products Retail grocery products sold under the Cora brand through third-party retail channels, extending the restaurant brand into at-home consumption.
• Franchise Opportunities License to operate a Cora breakfast and lunch restaurant under the brand, offered to franchisees across Canada.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 125 franchise restaurants serving communities across Canada
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Breakfast Club of Canada - The Club's youngestcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019In 2019, Cora created 'The Club's youngest' dish to help feed Canada's youth. For every order of this dish, $0.50 is donated to Breakfast Club of Canada. This initiative directly supports breakfast programs for children across the country.
• Breakfast Club of CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Cora began a partnership with Breakfast Club of Canada in 2008 to help provide schoolchildren with a nutritious breakfast. Both organizations share the goal of promoting well-being and education of young Canadians. The partnership includes various fundraising activities and donations collected through franchise restaurants across Canada.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves14 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IHOP: Iconic US-based breakfast franchise chain with a similar sit-down breakfast-and-lunch value proposition, franchise model and brand-led marketing playbook — a directly comparable category leader globally.
• First Watch: US-based daytime café chain focused on breakfast, brunch and lunch with a similarly bright, fresh menu positioning; closely aligned in daypart, casual dine-in model and brand narrative.
• Jack's Family Restaurants: Regional US breakfast-and-lunch chain with a family-restaurant, sit-down service model directly comparable to Cora's positioning on value, breakfast focus and family-friendly atmosphere.
• Denny's: US diner chain specializing in affordable breakfast around the clock; comparable in breakfast-centric franchise model and broad demographic targeting, though operating in a longer daypart than Cora.
• Sunset Grill: Canadian breakfast-and-lunch franchise chain specializing in all-day breakfast, comparable to Cora in daypart focus, casual sit-down service and franchise-based growth across Canada.
• Eggspectation: Montreal-founded Canadian breakfast-and-brunch restaurant chain with a similar colourful, fruit-forward menu and full-service dining model. The closest direct domestic comparison to Cora in concept, cuisine and target customer.

Broad incumbents

• Swiss Chalet: Iconic Canadian casual-dining franchise chain sharing franchise infrastructure, dine-in footprint and Canadian brand heritage with Cora, though focused on chicken/rotisserie dinner daypart.
• Tim Hortons: Canada's dominant QSR coffee-and-breakfast chain. While not a direct sit-down competitor, it materially competes in Cora's breakfast daypart with scale, drive-thru convenience and lower price points.
• Boston Pizza: Canada's largest casual-dining franchise; comparable in franchise-economics, full-service sit-down model and pan-Canadian presence, but with a broader daypart (lunch through late night) and a different menu focus.

Regional players

• White Spot: Long-standing Western Canadian casual-dining chain with a comparable sit-down family-restaurant positioning and a regionally concentrated footprint that intersects with Cora's Western Canada expansion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/chezcora
• Instagraminstagram.com/chezcora
• Pinterestpinterest.com/chezcora
• Xx.com/corarestaurants

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cora