MONTREAL, QC and WATERBURY, VT – MTY Food Group, Inc., franchisor and operator of multiple concepts of quick service restaurants, and Keurig Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. (Keurig) announced on Friday that the companies have reached an agreement regarding the Van Houtte Café-Bistros franchise network.
Under the terms of the agreement, Keurig Canada will maintain ownership of the Van Houtte brand, image, and wholesale business, while MTY will own and operate Van Houtte Café-Bistros, taking them into a new era of great food and beverage service.
MTY has acquired certain assets from Keurig used exclusively in connection with the Van Houtte-branded Café-Bistro franchise system, comprised of 50 franchised and one Keurig-owned café-bistro in Quebec, which generated total franchise sales of over $25 million for franchisees in the 12-month period ended September 29,2014 most recent completed fiscal year.
As part of the agreement, MTY will offer only Van Houtte® branded coffee, and other Keurig Brewed® products, roasted and packaged by Keurig for sale in Van Houtte-branded Café-Bistros. In turn, Keurig Canada has licensed use of the Van Houtte brand to MTY in perpetuity. Financial terms of the transaction, which closed November 7th, were not disclosed.
“MTY is very proud to become the trusted business partner of Keurig to own and operate such an iconic franchise network,” said Stanley Ma, CEO of MTY. “The addition of the Van Houtte-branded Café-Bistros will further increase the presence of MTY in the quick service restaurants market, and we are confident the partnership with Keurig will benefit MTY, Keurig and the franchisees of the network.”
“Through this relationship with MTY, Keurig will have the opportunity to continue to focus on roasting, packaging and distributing the quality Van Houtte coffees our consumers love and expect both in their neighborhood Van Houtte-branded Café-Bistros as well as in local stores and offices,” said Stéphane Glorieux, president of Keurig Canada.
“We know that MTY’s expertise in operating quick service restaurants will ensure the high-quality expectations associated with the Van Houtte brand and will be well represented at the Van Houtte-branded Café-Bistros going forward.”
