Freshly Chopped to expand to six new countries

Healthy fast food chain Freshly Chopped plans to open 120 new outlets across Europe over the next five years after it agreed a new partnership deal with Dutch company Fresh Food Fast Company (FFF) International Holding.

The deal will see the Freshly Chopped brand open new outlets in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

Freshly Chopped launched in Dublin in 2012 and now has over 60 stores across Ireland, the UK and Cyprus. The chain employs over 1,000 people.

Today’s deal will see Fresh Food Fast Company own the Freshly Chopped master franchise until 2032.

The first location will open in February in Leiden with a further seven outlets planned to open in the Netherlands in 2022.

Both company and franchise restaurants will then open across Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden over the next five years.

Brian Lee, founder and CEO of Chopped, said that signing today’s deal to bring the brand to six new countries is a great moment for the company and another important milestone on its global rollout.

“Without a doubt, 2020 and 2021 have been difficult years for everyone but we know that whatever happens, customers across the world want convenient, fresh, healthy food and there is no brand better than Freshly Chopped at meeting this demand,” he added.

Hans Wingender, the managing director of Fresh Food Fast Company, said that over the last 20 years customers have changed with a very large shift and demand for healthier options at the right price and fast.

“It is my strong belief that leading food brands must be able to respond to this and play a more active role in offering healthier food at the right price and for the past number of years. Global brands must be able to respond locally to these trends and play a more active role in serving the needs and trends underpinning local markets using local knowledge,” he said.

“I have been exploring brands that could do this. In 2020, when I first encountered Freshly Chopped, I knew this was the brand that we could grow across Europe,” he added.

Source: rte.ie