Itsu plans to open 100 new restaurants by 2025
The Asian-inspired chain, which was launched by Pret a Manger founder Julian Metcalfe in London in 1997, currently trades from over 70 UK sites.
Half of the planned restaurants will launch in the UK, while a further 50 will be in the USA and two further European countries.
The move is expected to create 1,000 new jobs and is part of a drive to transform Itsu in to a £500m food and grocery business by 2025.
Metcalfe says the brand is aiming to bring “healthy fast food to billions of people across the world”.
Itsu already has one international restaurant in New York, with two stores set to open at Orly Airport in France this year.
The expansion comes as Itsu looks to overhaul its site design and menu.The company launched its first ‘store of the future’ in London’s Lime Street last year, which saw fridges taken off the shop floor and replaced with self-service screens, the introduction of specially designed bins to improve customer recycling, and a wider customisable hot food menu.
Itsu’s latest restaurant opened in London’s Stratford on 7 February, where there are plans to install similar self-service technology.
