Poke House will open 20 new restaurants in 2023
One hundred million euros of sales in 2022. A twenty shops to open this year and aim to expand into the Middle East e in Nord Africa. They are numbers and goals of Poke Houseglobal brand leader of this fresh and colorful food of Hawaiian origin, born in November 2018 from the dream of two friends, Matthew Pichiborn in 1986, e Victory Zanettiborn in 1991. The group now has a thousand employees and already has over 130 brands in nine countries – Italy, United Kingdom, Holland, Spain, France, Portugal, Romania, Austria and United States.
It was precisely America that was decisive in the internationalization of the brand, whose presence was further consolidated after the acquisition – which took place a year ago – of the chain Sweetfin, one of the most iconic brands in California, known as the forerunner of poke and leader of plant-based bowls in the USA. Also, a few days ago, Poke House opened its second location at Miami, at Lenox House, and now the goal is to “expand in the Middle East and North Africa” as the founder of Poke House says Matthew Pichi a Truth and Business.
You were born recently and yet you are growing very fast. What’s your secret?
I am from Glovo Italy where I was CEO and there I learned the race against time to gain market share as quickly as possible. Through this experience I was lucky enough to understand that poke, being the same all over the world, was ready to explode globally. This is why we decided to take a risk and expand quickly outside Italy, acquiring the leading chain in each country and thus capitalizing on our first mover move.
A strategy that has paid off looking at the numbers.
After 4 years we are already in 9 countries and in more than half we are leaders, while in the others we are among the first operators in the sector. The maneuvering speed allowed us to be the first in the world. To do this we have exploited our knowledge of the sector, to the point that in some countries we have been the ones to introduce poke and it is immediately liked.
What were your strengths?
I’m not saying we didn’t make mistakes, but our advantage was to have already raised the capitalto have excellent knowledge dell’ecommerce and to sell poke, whose recipe is the same all over the world. This food, in fact, has the strong point of being healthy – given that the base is rice, fish and vegetables – and can be eaten in the shop or delivered at home without spoiling.
How is your expansion abroad going on?
Our next goal is to grow into Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and North Africa, where there are excellent levels of delivery and the population is young. In Saudi Arabia in particular, 70% of the population is under the age of 40.
But to expand you need new resources. Where do you find them?
A few months ago we sent a mandate to Goldman Sachs for a capital increase. Now we’re calmly looking around because it’s not the ideal time due to rising rates and declining valuations for companies like ours, but to open new outlets you need capital. Currently we already have two private equity funds in our capital (Euler Capital and Mip by Angelo Moratti) and we look for another one to continue the run.
And then the target is the Stock Exchange?
I dream of the Stock Exchange, a goal that also makes our lenders happy. But I don’t think this is the right moment on the market, I think it will take a couple of years to wait for the IPO.
You continue to open stores, but you are strong on delivery. What are the percentages on your turnover?
Currently the delivery is worth 40% of turnover, a share that goes from 30% in Italy to 50% in other countries. However, the more we open new stores, the better the delivery itself is distributed among the various establishments. A level of 40% online delivery is ideal because it allows us to optimize points of sale and costs, given that delivery is invoiced guaranteed but, having to pay commissions to the platforms, it has lower margins.
Is this why you keep opening stores and don’t focus on take away?
Poke House will continue to open big shops, with at least 30 seats, because we want our customers to eat their meals in a quiet and welcoming place. Take away is not part of our culture.
Many of your competitors complain of not finding staff. Is it like this for you too?
On the contrary, we have a turnover del 6%, very low for a restaurant, because we pay great attention to our staff and this also translates into great attention to the customer. In fact, to retain him, you must not only offer good food, but also hospitality and create a community of which everyone feels part. Only in this way can Poke House still be there in 10 years.
How many restaurants do you have in Italy and where to make the next openings?
In Italy we have 70 restaurants concentrated in large cities and shopping centres and we will continue to do so in the future. We will not go to smaller cities where other operators have already opened. The goal is to inaugurate 20 stores a year in our country and we will soon be opening in Florence, where there is an excellent mix of tourists, university students and young people.