It's been a big year for cookie and coffee franchise, Mrs Fields, opening six new stores and planning to open another 10 in 2010.

One of the recently opened stores is located at Sydney International  Airport. "It has been very successful as has the other recent store opening at Castle Towers," said Mrs Fields Australian managing director, Andrew Benefield.

A franchise in Northlands, Victoria, was also opened on 24 November.

A major highlight for 2009 was Mrs Fields' second ranking in Top Franchise's category of 'Top 10 Overall Best Franchises'. Franchisees rank franchises in several criteria include franchise support, rewards, lifestyle and passion for the enterprise.

"It was great to see that we ranked highly in 'Support Provided' and 'Passion' categories as these are keys to our brand and our system," Benefield said. "It was also good to see that we ranked highly on 'listening to and acting on' what our franchisees require. We have worked hard this year to implement a number of new training programs as they requested and I see this as early recognition of that."

Another recent achievement is Mrs Fields' second placing in CSR Sugar Golden Bean Roaster Competition, securing the silver medal in the category of Chain Stores/Cafe Franchise (Milk Based).

In January 2010, several new products including a frozen chilled cookie drink will be made available, which Benefield anticipates will increase the franchise's appeal to a new demographic. "We trialled the drink in Queensland and it was a hit. It went really well and we expect it will help drive our youth-oriented market along with some other treat based products to attract a new market."