Already a big name in food for institutions such as colleges, senior care centers and hospitals, Sodexo is now taking its commercial restaurant division and kicking it into high gear.

Sodexo operates nine restaurant chains with more than 500 U.S. locations. But up until 2004, all of its restaurants were company owned.

Now it has chosen three of those nine chains to franchise to entrepreneurs nationwide.

Drawn by the familiar accolades of high education level, high income level and booming growth, Sodexo has picked North Carolina as one of its target markets for franchising.

Over the next five years, Sodexo and its restaurant subsidiary, Retail Brand Group, want to open as many as 75 restaurants in the state.

The first opened in November in a Concord shopping center: an Italian restaurant, Pandini's.

Along with that chain, Sodexo wants to expand its Salsa Rico Fresh Mexican Grill and Jazzman's Cafe coffeehouse here.

The three are what the restaurant industry refers to as "quick casual." Think Panera Bread and Moe's Southwest Grill, to name two already in this market. They are a step up from fast-food places but not as fancy or expensive as white-tablecloth restaurants.

Where will they be?

Between the three, Sodexo could add as many as 24 restaurants in Raleigh-Durham and 19 in Charlotte.

It also wants to open restaurants in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Asheville and Fayetteville.

But making such a big and aggressive entrance into the competitive North Carolina restaurant market is risky, especially with the economy slowing down.

And with restaurants opening all over the Triangle, competition for prime locations and customers may be fierce.

"Announcing it is one thing, and doing it is another," said Joel Cohen, founder of Cohen Restaurant Marketing Group, a Raleigh restaurant consulting firm.

The big plan

Sodexo's strategy for North Carolina mirrors what other companies are doing nationally.

Big chains including IHOP and Applebee's are putting more emphasis on franchising locations rather than building corporation-owned locations.

"It's become a pretty significant trend in the industry to just get out of owning," said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, a Chicago firm that researches the food industry.

"It gives you an opportunity to increase your capital and decrease your capital expenditures."

But franchising has its pitfalls.

The company might not have to bankroll the new store, but it loses some control.

If the franchisee doesn't follow the business model, the parent company might not know until it is too late. Sixty percent of new restaurants fail within the first three years.

"It really comes down to picking the right franchisee," said Sherri Daye Scott, editor of industry publication QSR Magazine, which tracks the quick service restaurant business.

"The key is finding the operators who will actually follow that protocol."

Getting people to buy into a brand that's unknown in North Carolina could be tough, too.

Depending on which restaurant the franchisee wants to open, the initial costs can be more than half a million dollars. Franchisees have to prove that they have a high enough net worth, liquid assets and business experience to handle the responsibility.

"Unfortunately, there have been some very qualified folks that we've had to say no to," said the vice president of franchise development, Bob Faller.

Faller said the company is aware that pulling off such a large expansion in a new market could take longer than expected.

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