Canadian fast-casual brand Freshii to come to the UK
Canadian-based healthy eating fast-casual brand Freshii, is coming to the UK this year after signing serial entrepreneur Anil Patil as its franchise partner.
Freshii, currently expanding at the rate of about two a week, has more than 240 branches in 13 countries and 63 cities, serving what it describes as healthy food that is "convenient and affordable".
Countries it operates in include North and South America, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria.
Its stated goal is to grow to 840 venues worldwide within three years, serving a diverse and customisable menu of salads, bowls, wraps, soups, smoothies and juices. It also sells "meal boxes", which it calls a "one-stop shop to a full day of healthy eating".
Patil said: "I operate 40 Starbucks and 20 Domino's locations here, and I am confident that I will find similar, if not greater, success with the Freshii brand in the UK."
Matthew Corrin, Freshii's 33-year-old chief executive, who founded the business in 2005, said the company had seen success in Ireland and believed there was "a tremendous opportunity" to grow throughout the UK, which he said was "underserved in the healthy fast-casual space".
Patil is initially looking to recruit a network of franchisees throughout London to operate branches offering "healthy food that is convenient and affordable".
"We won't rest until Freshii becomes the leading fast-casual restaurant in the UK," he said.
"Freshii operates in a growing segment of the fast-casual market and reflects the cultural change we're seeing towards health, but also towards environmentalism and philanthropy."
Freshii sets great store by its "Mission Green" incorporating every part of the business from packaging and waste to marketing and store design.
It went public on the Canadian stock exchange TSX in January, generating gross proceeds of C$125.35m (£76.2m).
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