Saladworks' Parent Buys Garbanzo Mediterranean, Frutta Bowls Restaurant Chains
By: Linda Moss | CoStar News
The parent company of Saladworks, a fast-casual restaurant chain, bought the Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh and Frutta Bowls groups of eateries as part of its effort to target healthy-lifestyle consumers.
Centre Lane Partners, which owns West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based Saladworks, will be forming a holding company, WOWorks, for that chain as well as Garbanzo and Frutta Bowls, two chains that have about 60 restaurants around the country combined.
In its statement, Saladworks didn't disclose the terms of the deals for its fellow fast-casual chains. But Restaurant Business Online reported that Garbanzo was purchased for $1.2 million.
Officials at Centre Lane and Garbanzo didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment, and Saladworks didn't return a phone message.
Founded in 1986, Saladworks is a create-your-own salad chain with over 100 locations across 18 states and two countries. Garbanzo, headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, serves Mediterranean cuisine such as laffa wraps and pitas baked in-house. It has about 25 locations. Frutta Bowls, based in Freehold, New Jersey, offers super-food bowls, fruit smoothies, oatmeal bowls, artisan toasts and organic coffee. It has 37 restaurants.
Like a bevy of other restaurant chains financially devastated by the pandemic, Garbanzo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this summer. The chain was hit particularly hard by the coronavirus because it did a lot of catering, and events were canceled due to social distancing. Garbanzo also has a number of sites on college campuses, and many campuses were closed because of the pandemic.
Centre Lane Partners is a private equity firm based in Manhattan that's invested in companies such as NutriBullet.
Common Infrastructure, Operations
"Like Saladworks, we believe Garbanzo and Frutta Bowls are complementary brands, all sharing a core DNA based upon fresh, flavorful and healthy food," Kelly Roddy, CEO of Saladworks as well as the new WOWorks portfolio, said in a statement.
WOWorks will "leverage the appeal of these unique and differentiated brands — along with the added size, scale and shared resources — to benefit all stakeholders," according to Roddy.
The Saladworks' team will take over Garbanzo's and Frutta Bowls' infrastructure and operations to drive their growth, he said.
Current Garbanzo CEO James Park will stay on following the acquisition as special adviser to the CEO.
"Garbanzo has a favorable path for growth post-pandemic," Park said in a statement.
WOWorks said the three chains aim to capitalize on four macro trends: demographics, in that millennials and Generation Z make up over 60% of the U.S. population; psychographics, or "a shared mindset valuing personalization, customization, self-expression and connection"; lifestyle, with consumers seeking healthy, nutritious dining options; and convenience, which encompasses dine-in, carryout, online ordering, curbside pick-up, delivery, airports and military bases.
Despite the challenges that COVID-19 posed this year, Saladworks has grown by more than 40 restaurant locations, entering new markets such as Canada, California, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Ohio, Florida and Indiana. Roughly 80% of these new sites are nontraditional, including ghost kitchens, food trucks, grocery retail, hospitals and universities.