Kotipizza Group Oyj
Stock Exchange Release 13 December 2017 at 1pm (EET)
Kotipizza Group invests in international restaurant concept
Kotipizza Group has developed a new restaurant concept, No Pizza, aimed at international markets. First No Pizza restaurant is meant to open in the Nordics during the year 2018. Kotipizza Group plans to expand the concept into a restaurant chain using the master franchising collaboration model.
The No Pizza restaurant concept, created by the Kotipizza Group, is aimed at international markets. The concept is built on a pizza base made of sour dough and responsibly sourced and fresh ingredients, as well as a distinct visual image and customer experience. The No Pizza brand has been designed by N2 Marketing Oy and the interior design by Futudesign Oy.
The Kotipizza Group plans to open the first No Pizza restaurant during the year 2018 in the Nordics. After the launch, the company will look for a partner with whom to expand the concept into a restaurant chain operating on the basis of the master franchising collaboration model.
"In developing No Pizza, we have benefited from our experiences in driving the Kotipizza chain, as well as our study of the Nordic markets and consumer trends. The innovative No Pizza concept differs significantly from other fast casual restaurants operating in Nordic countries, in terms of both the product and customer experience. We believe that in collaboration with the right master franchising partner, it is possible to build the concept into a successful franchising chain. For example, in Sweden there are currently virtually no nationwide pizza restaurant chains", says the CEO of Kotipizza Group Tommi Tervanen.
The concept and business model of No Pizza have been conceived in a way that allows for its operations to be expanded also into other markets after the Nordics. 'No Pizza - There's no pizza like No Pizza' is a trademark registered in the European Union.
In the financial year having commenced on 1 February 2017, €200.000 have been invested in the development of the No Pizza concept. No Pizza is estimated to bear no material impact upon the company's financial result in the current financial year or in the subsequent financial year starting on 1 February 2018.
On 30 November, the Kotipizza Group acquired a 51 per cent stake in Day After Day Oy operating the Social Food Street Burgerjoint restaurant with the intention of expanding Social Burger into a nationwide burger restaurant chain. In the upcoming financial year 1 February 2018 onwards, the Group plans to invest approximately one million euros in total in the development of new concepts.
The Group will report all aforementioned costs as either investments or comparable items in future interim reports.
Kotipizza Group Oyj
Tommi Tervanen, CEO
For more information:
Tommi Tervanen, CEO
tel. +358 207 716 743
Kotipizza Group in brief
Kotipizza is a Finnish pizza chain founded in 1987. At the end of financial year 2016, the number of restaurants stood at 257. In the financial year 2016, the total sales of Kotipizza restaurants amounted to EUR 89.9 million. The Kotipizza chain is part of the Kotipizza Group, alongside the supply and logistics company Helsinki Foodstock Oy and Chalupa Oy that operates the Mexican-style restaurant chain Chalupa, launched in 2015.
In the financial year 2016, Helsinki Foodstock had net sales of EUR 53.2 million and the total sales of Chalupa restaurants were EUR 1,04 million. In the same period, the Kotipizza Group had net sales of EUR 66.6 million with a comparable EBITDA of EUR 6.73 million.
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