Boparan to open 30 Restaurant Hubs in Sainsbury's over the next year
The restaurant group will open 30 of its Restaurant Hub concepts that offer customers eat-in, takeaway and home delivery from Boparan brands Caffè Carluccio’s, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Ed’s Diner and Slim Chickens with the intention to accelerate the roll-out in future years if the format continues to be popular with customers.
It follows the successful trial of a Restaurant Hub at Sainsbury’s Selly Oak store in Birmingham.
“The Restaurant Hub allows customers to enjoy multiple brands by placing one order with one payment which can all be enjoyed on site, or all delivered in one bag with just one delivery charge. This gives customers choice that never existed before and we’re delighted to be the first in the market to land this experience with such incredible brands,” says Satnam Leihal, Boparan CEO.
“Customers are returning week in week out thanks to great quality food, brilliant service and unrivalled choice and we now look forward to rolling out our innovative Restaurant Hub concept across the country.”
At the same time, a further 30 Starbucks coffee shops will open in Sainsbury’s supermarkets over the next 12 months, bringing the total number of Starbucks in the supermarkets to 60.
“We look forward to building on our existing relationship with Sainsbury’s to bring the safe, convenient, Starbucks Experience to more of their customers, and for our cafes to play an important role as a gathering place within the community,” says Alex Rayner, Starbucks general manager.
“COVID-19 accelerated customer trends towards convenience and as a result we’ve continued to increase investment in new formats and digital channels such as Drive-Thru, delivery, Mobile Order and Pay and our loyalty program Starbucks® Rewards.”
Sainsbury’s will close 200 of its cafes next month as part of the move.
“We know that customers like the convenience of being able to have a drink, a snack or a meal while they’re doing their shopping – and that they love the range of food and brands on offer at The Restaurant Hub and from Starbucks,” says Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s chief executive officer.
“Whether customers are shopping for food, for Tu clothing, Habitat homewares or at Argos, the offer at The Restaurant Hub means they can also have breakfast, lunch or dinner in the store – or take a hot meal home with them.
“Through our trials with Boparan Restaurant Group and Starbucks we have learnt that we can offer customers a much better eat-in and takeaway experience working with partners. We are totally focused on improving what we can deliver for our customers and at the same time, working hard to make our business simpler. We are really excited about this new customer offer we will be rolling out over the next two to three years across many of our stores.”
