Foodmaker opens first French restaurant in Paris

Foodmaker has opened its first French restaurant in Paris, only its second abroad. The Belgian restaurant chain wants to double its turnover this year, thanks to foreign expansion.

International expansion

The first French Foodmaker opened in shopping centre Passy Plaza, quite near to the Eiffel Tower, thanks to a partnership with French retailer Monoprix. “We see room for 100 restaurants in France. The French eat a lot of salad”, Belgian newspaper De Tijd quotes CEO Lieven Vanlommel.

The Parisian restaurant features the typical Foodmaker range, with home-made salads and warm dishes, freshly made sandwiches and wraps, a healthy breakfast buffet, and juices, smoothies and desserts that are made on the spot. Everything is prepared without dyes, preservatives and refined sugar.

Double turnover

The company hopes to double its turnover thanks to expansion at home and abroad: at the moment there are twelve Foodmaker restaurants, but by the end of next year that should amount to twenty. Partnerships with major players like Monoprix in France and Delhaize in Belgium should also help the chain to grow: it already has a shop-in-shop in seventy Delhaize supermarkets, where customers can buy salads made at the spot. The same concept is being introduced in 84 Monoprix stores, with a trial in Germany and the Netherlands to follow suit.

Foodmaker also has found a place in Delhaize’s new convenience store concept Fresh Atelier: five such stores already feature a stall with freshly made Foodmaker products, while twenty more should follow soon. “It is a pleasant collaboration that allows us to increase our reach and our volumes, which is needed to make quality products in a profitable way”, the CEO says.