Prologue: With high profitability transferred from its downtown operations, a trendy healthy food and drink-focused offer, and a tremendous flexibility in how the concept can be delivered, the Protein Bar & Kitchen (PBK) is generating excellent returns from its first three US airport concessions. Our Senior Business Editor Mark Lane spoke to PBK Airport Concessions Consultant Tonja Pastorelle about the brand’s potential in travel retail.
With a career that includes more than 25 years working in the airport sector, many of them in the food & beverage segment, Airport Concessions Consultant Tonja Pastorelle has developed a strong sense of which F&B concepts will succeed in the US travel environment.
In helping Protein Bar & Kitchen (PBK) secure its first three US airport spaces with another soon to follow, Pastorelle has discovered another brand which ticks all the airport F&B boxes and has played a leading role in manoeuvring it into pole position for rapid expansion.
On top of working as a business development consultant for PBK, connecting it to operating partners, Pastorelle represents the Chopt, Dos Toros, Field Trip and Boqueria brands in the airport space.
She is also an ACDBE women-owned business partner to Potbelly and Garrett Popcorn (alongside a second ACDBE operating partner) and WHSmith brands including InMotion, Six Points Market, ChiBoys and Boulevard & Branch. These brands stretch across four major US airports.
Among Pastorelle’s current major projects is PBK, whose first travel retail opening came at Salt Lake City International Airport (Terminal A, 1,500sq ft) last October, followed by two openings in quick succession this summer at Chicago O’Hare (Terminal 5, 705sq ft) and New York La Guardia (Terminal C, 220sq ft) airports. Another PBK is scheduled to open at Boise Airport in Idaho next year.
The brand’s roots go back to 2009, when what Pastorelle describes as “a big idea” was launched out of a small Chicago storefront serving “delicious”, nutritious, protein-packed shakes. The menu was later expanded to include a full selection of high-protein salads, wraps and bowls, customisable for all diets – something for every ‘body’, as the brand, whose catchy strapline is ‘It’s all good’, puts it.
Fifteen years later, PBK – which outside airports has 13 downtown locations in Illinois and one in Indiana – continues to innovate with new protein-packed shakes and menu items as it grows its footprint.
Airport space flexibility
At the core of Pastorelle and PBK CEO Jeff Drake’s ambitions for the airport space is the brand’s flexibility as an F&B concept. “PBK is among the most flexible food & beverage brands in the marketplace, as the concept can be expressed in several ways,” explains Pastorelle. “In larger spaces, it can offer its full menu along with substantial seating as it does in Salt Lake City Airport, or as a walk-away quick-service restaurant as it does in Chicago O’Hare.
“It can also work as a smaller location with hot and/or cold hold where items are prepared elsewhere and the site functions as a satellite, as we plan to do at a later date at Chicago O’Hare.
“PBK can also be done with a blend station, with protein shakes, acai bowls, breakfast and potentially coffee as we have done in New York’s LaGuardia.
“Finally, it has the potential to form part of a larger retail marketplace where they have a food counter – this could be a blend station or offer more menu items.
“PBK is more flexible than most brands while still maintaining brand integrity, which is so important in airport spaces.”
Sound financials
Pastorelle says she was originally introduced to the brand by a friend and first worked with it to write a proposal for the Chicago O’Hare Airport space.
“We quickly developed a rapport, and I saw the potential to take the brand into multiple airports,” she recalls. “I was enticed by several things. Firstly, the average unit volume per annum is US$1.38 million on the street, far exceeding their competitors in the smoothie/better for you category, which is typically between US$650,000 and US$900,000.
“Then there is the lack of complexity in operations (proteins come in fully cooked sous vide and the kitchen package is simple and low cost), flexibility in presentation as previously outlined and crucially their CEO Jeff Drake and COO Jared Cohen understood airports and were such amazing people to work with; I knew that airport operators would love them.
“PBK is also perfect for small operators in airports (including ACDBEs), which is a big need.”
The ACDBE compatibility of the brand is underlined by the involvement of minority-owned ACDBE PBK partners OHM Concessions at Salt Lake City Airport and Shree Airport Concessions at New York La Guardia.
A healthy offer
The various PBK airport spaces offer nutritious and protein-packed shakes, smoothies, bowls, salads and wraps and are “designed to meet its guests wherever they may be on their wellness and lifestyle journey”, notes Pastorelle.
The brand’s ‘Protein Promise’, she adds, guarantees 15+ grams of protein in all dishes, and the menu is built with customisation in mind, catering to all dietary types and preferences.
Popular menu items include the Mexicali Bowl (roasted chicken, corn, black beans, cheddar, braised kale, salsa, spicy tomatillo sauce, organic quinoa and chipotle Greek yoghurt, topped with PBK guacamole and cilantro); and Superfood Salad (organic roasted tofu, organic rainbow carrots, chickpeas, PBK guacamole, spinach, kale, pickled red onion, celery, organic quinoa, hemp seed blend and creamy chia dressing).
Others include the PB&J Shake (organic peanut butter, blueberry, strawberry, organic agave, vanilla whey protein and almond milk); Jokes Acai’d Shake (acai berry, blueberry, vanilla whey protein and Greek yoghurt); and the Triple Berry Acai bowl (acai blended with banana and blueberries, topped with strawberries, blueberries, chia seed and house-made granola).
Pastorelle comments: “With dishes and shakes featuring wonderful, healthy, diverse ingredients such as these, the airport locations are experiencing great top line sales, and the operating model shows that the concept is very profitable.”
She believes the early performance of the PBK airport concessions gives the brand a great platform to build its presence in the travel space. “We would love to be in many airport locations,” Pastorelle reveals. “We are open to airports across the US – both large and small. We believe there is tremendous opportunity in all non-traditional venues, not only airports, but also train stations, healthcare locations, college campuses and travel centres.”
Asked what excites him about the airport food & beverage environment, Protein Bar & Kitchen CEO Jeff Drake tells The Moodie Davitt Report it is “a great opportunity for us to introduce the brand to consumers on a global stage”.
He continued: “Many travellers are starving for healthier options or a meal replacement which we can provide in our protein shakes. We love impacting a traveller’s day in a positive way in what may be a stressful time. Wouldn’t you rather have a healthy, filling meal packed with protein instead of a greasy burger when you’re getting on a long flight?
“Traditional franchising is also part of our growth plan. When potential franchisees see the brand operating at a high level in airports, it gives them the confidence to pursue the brand for street locations.” 
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report publishes the FAB Newsletter, which features highlights of openings, events and campaigns from around the world of airport and travel dining.
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