News

The British are coming ... with crepes

October 4, 2018

London-based CrepeAffaire is coming to America, opening its first U.S. location in the first half of 2019. Founder and CEO Daniel Spinath said the company is in early discussions to identify potential U.S. food and beverage joint venture partners for the concept's launch into the U.S. market.

"We are enthusiastic to introduce CrepeAffaire's unique concept to the U.S. consumer," he said about CrepeAffaire, which has 20 locations open and 12 under development in four countries in Europe and the Middle East. "The brand's sweet and savory crepe menu is highly relevant and versatile, with delicious and wholesome meal and snack options that attract an all-day client following. This includes a growing volume of take-out and delivery. Combined with our coffees and juices, CrepeAffaire offers a universally pleasing product selection that earns a steadfast, repeat clientele."

In its plan to crack the U.S. market, CrepeAffaire sees several key business advantages. First, while independent crepe cafes attract wide appeal among American customers, the U.S. market has no branded chains at a national level that focus on crepes, Spinath said. 

Secondly, Spinath said CrepeAffaire has a business track record as a fast casual leader with the average build-out costs of under $250,000.

"Recent research indicates that the best-in-class cafe chains are lucky to see an EBITDA of 15 percent, compared to CrepeAffaire locations, which consistently average over 20 percent EBITDA and range up to 30 percent," he said.

Finally, CrepeAffaire offers a wide flexibility of formats, resulting in lower overhead and better options for site selection. 

"With London's extreme real estate costs, CrepeAffaire learned the importance of space utilization with our early locations. Since our crepes are prepared on hot plates, we avoid the build-out costs and space requirements of full kitchens and complicated hood ventilation systems," Spinath said.

CrepeAffaire's formats range from traditional cafe locations to kiosks and food trucks.