American Fork / UT. (ffg) Four Foods Group (FFG), a restaurant concept incubator and accelerator company based in American Fork, Utah, announced it has completed the placement of over 35 million USD of growth capital to fund their expanding operations. The company has raised funds from various commercial and alternative sources including 18 million USD from Opus Bank, 12 million USD from Red Bridge Capital and over 7 million USD from other private capital providers. The funds will be used to expand FFG’s business operations and relationships across multiple brands by utilizing its established operating processes, expertise, systems and relationships to accelerate the growth of emerging restaurant brands and concepts.
«We have proven, with the Kneaders Bakery + Café brand, that we can accelerate restaurant concepts profitability through our platform», said Andrew K. Smith, Four Foods Group Chief Executive Officer. «We provide the requisite recipe for success, including providing resources for growth, management and all back office functions».
FFG has built and opened 43 Kneaders Bakery + Café restaurants throughout the Western United States with five additional units currently in development. The company is projected to surpass over 100 million USD in revenue in 2016, a number that recently placed them on the Inc. 5000 list for the fifth consecutive year.
FFG has established teams for in-house real estate, development and construction, facility management and set-up, operations, human resources, recruiting, hiring and training, payroll and benefits administration, IT support, marketing, financial oversight, accounting and investment financing. FFG provides capital in addition to the support services for the business to grow while allowing the operating partner to maintain significant equity in the business as revenue increases.
«We do something unique in the restaurant business by bringing a platform of tools and years of business operations and financial experience that enable our restauranteur partners to grow rapidly, while mitigating the usual pitfalls associated with meaningful expansion», said Smith.
Dale Cheney, Senior Managing Director, Head of Opus’ Merchant Banking Division added, «We are enthusiastic to partner with a very talented executive in Andrew K. Smith, and we look forward to supporting Andrew and all of the dedicated FFG executives and employees in realizing their aspiring vision for the company».
Shane Peery, Managing Director of Red Bridge Capital added, «The expertise and process that the FFG real estate and development team have in place makes them a good partner for this credit facility. We look forward to working with FFG as they continue developing new restaurant brands and are excited to expand our long-standing relationship with them».
«Our success with the Kneaders brand is a combination of our systems and a wonderful brand concept», continued Smith. «We are now ready to partner with additional restaurant concepts that can benefit from our proven process. Having access to this additional capital will fuel new growth».
An important element of FFG’s strategy is to attract brands and restauranteurs who don’t have the full suite of operating systems or financial backing necessary to truly accelerate a restaurant business. FFG intends to marry these needs with the entrepreneurial spirit and desire for ownership that under-capitalized would-be restauranteurs often possess.
«When a restaurant operating company like FFG and an entrepreneur both wake up in the morning thinking about the business the same way – like owners – great things happen for everyone», said Smith. «It’s a winning formula».
About Four Foods Group
Four Foods Group (FFG) is a restaurant development, investment and management company with 43 restaurant locations and additional sites in development or under construction. The company currently employs over 1’800 employees in multiple states, with more than 100 at their corporate offices in American Fork, Utah. Their restaurants rank among the Technomic Top 150 Fast Casual Restaurants. For more information, see also «Kneaders Bakery + Café Announces 50th Store Opening» (bakenet:eu on 27. July 2016).
