Casual Dining Group (CDG) is to begin the expansion of its Rapide grab-and-go format with an opening at Inverness Airport, MCA understands.
The company has signed a seven-year deal with airport owner Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) to open the small, 45sq m unit in the airport’s airside terminal in mid-September. Inverness Airport’s will be the first to be branded just Rapide, and will be the first standalone express site, not part of a larger restaurant.
The CDG-owned Café Rouge launched the group’s grab-and-go concept at Victoria Place, London, in 2014, and followed it up with a second at the capital’s Euston Station, last year.
With just six seats, this latest ‘express site’ will cater mainly to passengers in a hurry who take away their food.
Described as serving ‘French Food, Fast’, the unit will offer hot and cold baguettes, French snack classics such as croque monsieur, hot and cold drinks, and all-day breakfast lines including croissants and pain au chocolat.
As part of the agreement with HIAL it will feature locally-sourced food and ingredients in its menu, including cheeses, other dairy products, salmon, and smoked trout.
Mark Nelson, CDG’s managing director of concessions and international franchising, said: “A grab-and-go outlet at a busy airport terminal is a perfect location from which to attract takeaway customers.
“The one at Inverness also helps us develop a presence in Scotland as we seek to open other express outlets north of the border, while at the same time looking at opportunities at major airports in England.
“And with each new grab-and-go site like this we’re refining the Rapide idea, which sees us offer quality food and drink from units with very small physical footprints.”
Inverness Airport owner HIAL is in turn owned by the Scottish Government, and operates 11 Scottish airports. Situated at Dalcross, seven miles outside Inverness, the airport is ranked 27th busiest in the UK.
