Voodoo Brewing started with one Meadville pub. Franchise agreements could soon top 100.

MEADVILLE — Saegertown native Matteo Rachocki, CEO of Meadville-based Voodoo Brewing, always had high hopes for what the company could become.

That was true even back in 2012 when he and his brother Curtis purchased Voodoo — launched in 2005 by well-known beermaker Matt Allyn — at a time when the business was struggling.

In a 2016 interview, Curtis Rachocki said Voodoo's outlook was tenuous when he started there in 2010.

"When Matt first hired me, he confided in me how dire our financial situation was," Curtis Rachocki said. "He thought there was a legitimate possibility that I would only have a job for 30 days or so. In that first month, it was quite a shock to the system to see just how bad off we were."

Matteo Rachocki said he felt confident from the beginning that he and his brother could change the company's trajectory.

Two different skillsets

They each brought something to the table. Matteo Rachocki, who launched a startup business in New York City, focused on the business side of the equation. His brother, who had a background in biochemistry, was the beer maker.

"He is wicked talented as a brewer," he said. "I knew the two of us would be unstoppable. I guess I would say that we set this up from the beginning to have the best possible chances for success. We didn't really know the limits of what we could become."

Reality has kept pace with those high expectations, starting with the success of Voodoo's first tap room on Arch Street in Meadville.

It turned out that what worked in Meadville could work elsewhere. Voodoo went on to open taprooms, essentially satellite locations, in the Pittsburgh suburb of Homestead in 2015 and in Erie's Boston Store building in 2016.

But the growth didn't end there.

Today, there are 17 Voodoo Brewing locations, including 13 franchise locations.

And barring unforeseen circumstances, Meadville-based Voodoo expects to open taprooms across the country over the next several years.

In fact, franchise agreements have been signed for another 75 locations and Rachocki looks for that number to top 100 by early next year, with most locations opening over the next three to four years.

Franchises will be located "Everywhere from Idaho, Florida and Virginia," Rachocki said. "Our highest density is in Florida and Texas. That is where we will have the most stores per state."

Unlike most brew pubs, Voodoo's growing network of tap rooms will be served by one location in Meadville.

"We are unique, the brewpub without a brewery," Rachocki said. "I don't think another brewer is doing what we are doing."

Seeds for this expansion were sown in 2017 when Voodoo purchased and transformed a former 84 Lumber in Meadville, just a couple of blocks away from Voodoo's original location on Arch Street.

The 18,000 square-foot building, which sits on more than nine acres, has the capacity to produce 60,000 barrels, or about 1.86 million gallons, of beer a year. That's close to 20 million 12-ounce servings.

That leaves Voodoo, which currently produces about 10,000 gallons a year, with plenty of room to grow.

The franchise route

The company, which has been employee-owned since 2016, has experienced challenges along the way, including the closure in 2021 of its brew pub in downtown Grove City.

Most signs, however, pointed toward expansion. And in 2018, Voodoo sold its first franchise to develop a location in Cleveland Heights.

The idea caught on.

"We sold two more (franchises) really quickly," he said. "We didn't tell anybody. It was just word of mouth."

In exchange for an ownership stake in Voodoo, Voodoo sold the franchising arm of the business to Colorado-based Raintree, which recruits potential franchisees.

All this growth has won recognition for Voodoo. The brewery, which was featured in a recent report in Nation's Restaurant News, was the recipient in 2019 of the 51st annual Winslow Award presented by the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County.

“Their growth has been astronomical,” William Bragg, president of the Economic Progress Alliance, said in announcing the award.

The Voodoo experience

Rachocki said there is a great effort made to recreate the Voodoo experience, including the food, furnishings and even the paint colors.

But there are also opportunities, he said, for owners to customize their business.

Franchise experience isn't required, and military veterans can buy a franchise at a discount. It's not for everyone, though. Initial investments range from $331,000 to $2.19 million. Voodoo asks that candidates have at least $400,000 in liquid capital and a net worth of at least $800,000.

"We kind of market it like it's the anti-franchise," Rachocki said. "We are not looking to find someone who has 20 Papa Johns and wants to open a Voodoo. Almost no experience is required. We kind of mold and shape our owners into the exact model and format of how we do business."

Some things aren't negotiable, however.

Rachocki said Voodoo is looking for franchisees who are a good fit with the company's culture.

"We meet them, talk to them and get to know them," he said. "It's going to be a 10-year marriage with somebody."

Voodoo stresses the notion of community throughout the process. Franchisees are expected to be part of the communities they serve and to contribute to them.

"I have always said craft beer without community is just beer," Rachocki said. "We are community focused. All of our stores have community involvement as part of their onboarding."

What's most important

More than anything, though, Rachocki maintains that the success of his Meadville-based business is built on the basics of its beer and its food.

It's those things — beers like Voodoo Love Child and the improbably named Khakis Full of Cheese, along with a generous portion of Kimchi Queso Dip and Bayou Bite — that have helped make Voodoo what it is today.

"That is a big part of it," Rachocki said. "Voodoo is a place where we relentlessly produce some of the best beer and food on the planet."

The bottom line is that each new location needs to replicate the experience that can be found on Arch Street in Meadville or on State Street in Erie.

"We have to make sure every Voodoo looks, smells and tastes like Voodoo, he said.

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Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Founded in Meadville, Voodoo Brewing aims at 100 franchise locations