Pasta Evangelists’ co-founder: ‘We see the UK market opportunity for at least 200 stores’

The co-founder of Pasta Evangelists has revealed ambitions for “at least 200 stores” across the UK as the brand consolidates its presence on high streets and travel hubs.

It comes after the business launched its first franchise sites in London’s Richmond and Greenwich over the summer, both of which marked the brand’s first foray into standalone restaurants.

Speaking to The Caterer, Chris Rennoldson, co-founder and vice president strategy and analytics at Pasta Evangelists, said: “The vision for the business now is to be on high streets. That’s the natural next step of our evolution.

"We started as a recipe kit business, but always with a view to being the authority in fresh pasta and sauces, so we were always – from the very start of the business – clear that we envisage this to be a multi-channel opportunity.”

Pasta Evangelists was founded in 2016 as a cook-at-home fresh pasta business. During the pandemic, it was able to significantly increase its reach by partnering with delivery companies to serve cooked meals.

In 2021, it opened its first counter-only restaurant within Harrods Dining Hall in London’s Knightsbridge, the same year the business was bought by the Italian family-owned Barilla Group, a 146-year-old pasta and bakery company.

Pasta Evangelists also operates four pasta academies, a pasta factory and 50 sites across the UK, most of which are dark kitchens offering hot take-aways.

To further diversify its offering, the business will be opening its first transport hub site in Manchester Airport, which Rennoldson hopes will serve as a blueprint for future expansion within the segment.

“We’ve been excited about how our concept could be applied to travel for many years. There’s a really strong fit so we’ve gone out and spoken to many operators in rail and air about the opportunity. We were really excited to be invited by Manchester Airport to tender for part of its refit of Terminal 2 and reviving the F&B offer,” he said.

The nature of the Manchester Airport site, which is open every day between 5am and 10pm for takeaway only, has led to the group developing a breakfast offering for the first time. Menu items give British staples an Italian twist, such as the bacon butty-esque pancetta ciabatta.

Rennoldson confirmed it will be a Pasta Evangelists owned and operated site, with all staff coming from in-house, as opposed to it being run on a franchise model.

“For the established franchise operators in travel, we are a little bit too nascent and too uncertain. It’s not realistic for us to go to one of the major airport franchisee operators at this stage. They need a 100-page playbook and we’re not we’re not going to sit here and write the 100-page playbook, because then we won’t open until ski holiday season,” he said.

However, Pasta Evangelists is actively looking for a number of “experienced partners who can drive the brand forward” across its portfolio, with the aim of building a pipeline of 20 sites per franchisee.

“Our expectation of a franchisee is not that they would have one or two stores. We see the UK market opportunity as at least 200 Pasta Evangelists stores,” Rennoldson said.

He is particularly keen for franchisees in chicken, pizza, coffee and gym businesses to become “great custodians of our brand”.

“We know we are going to learn huge amounts from them as operators of restaurants and we just feel the time is right. The business will grow most successfully by having that operational expertise on board,” he said.

That said, Rennoldson does not want Pasta Evangelists to lose its artisanal reputation by hitting the expansion trail too soon, and stressed the importance of scaling “at the right pace”.  

“We are absolutely conscious, especially as a premium brand, that you can’t afford to let that quality of service and food slip. The whole value of the business rests on that quality and delivering that experience every single time,” he said.

“I would say the biggest safety factor we have is that the founders are still heavily involved and not going anywhere, so we really, really care.”