INTERNATIONAL. In major breaking news, Lagardère Travel Retail has signed an exclusive global travel channel franchise agreement with the New York gourmet food & beverage brand Dean & DeLuca.
The deal will see the opening of Dean & DeLuca stores in up to 150 travel retail locations globally over the next five years.
“Our advancement into foodservice continues strength to strength and the partnership with Dean & DeLuca confirms our ability to deliver to our goals and to meet the needs of the passengers, airports and brands.” – Lagardère Travel Retail Chief Executive Dag Rasmussen
The first two stores at Hong Kong International Airport, opened in September, represent a new concept for Dean & DeLuca, with a small footprint but a diverse range of products and services. These include sandwiches and patisserie, salads, and pastas and specialty coffee and beverages and a ‘bento box’ style grab and go menu that offers an alternative to inflight meals and box sets. A range of ‘foodie’ items are also on sale.
The Dean & DeLuca deal will play an important part in the strategic expansion of Lagardère Travel Retail’s airport food retail portfolio, the French company said.
Lagardère Travel Retail Chief Executive Dag Rasmussen said: “Our advancement into foodservice continues strength to strength and the partnership with Dean & DeLuca confirms our ability to deliver to our goals and to meet the needs of the passengers, airports and brands.”
Sorapoj Techakraisri, Chief Executive, Pace Development Corporation, which owns the Dean & Deluca brand said: “Since we acquired the Dean & DeLuca brand and operations in 2014, we have spent numerous efforts in developing the model to bring the expertise and heritage of Dean & DeLuca in the gourmet food and beverage retailing, markets, and café to the world and we are delighted that the brand has been well-accepted in today’s consumers’ minds.
“With the steady annual growth in global travel directly benefiting associated industries, including food & beverage retailing and Dean & DeLuca’s own experience and success with our two outlets at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Dean & DeLuca is excited to partner with Lagardère. [We will benefit from] their global presence, expertise in the successful operation of F&B outlets in the travel retail channel’s bustling travelling environment, and their exceptional professional standards of management.
“We are confident that Lagardère will not only enhance the global awareness of the Dean & DeLuca brand at strategic locations but will also preserve the very high standards of our beloved Dean & DeLuca brand as our exclusive partner in the travel channel.”
There are 72 Dean & DeLuca outlets globally, including 34 franchise outlets in ten countries. In addition, Pace directly owns six locations in the US, 11 in Thailand and has a 50% stake in 21 Dean & DeLuca café-style outlets in Japan.
It has also been announced that another new Dean & DeLuca outlet will be opened in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October 2018.
Footnote: The Moodie Davitt Report also publishes The Foodie Report, the world’s only media focused on airport (and other travel-related) food & beverage. The Foodie Report e-Newsletter is published every two weeks and The Foodie Report e-Zine every month.
Please send all news of food & beverage outlet openings, together with images, menus, video etc to Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com to ensure unrivalled global exposure. The company also organises the annual Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards. This year’s FAB took place on 20-21 June in Helsinki.
