Itsu property director Vishal Talreja has hailed the brand’s partnership with Pizza Hut Restaurants for unlocking access to new areas such as retail parks and market towns.
Speaking on a property panel at MCA’s Restaurant Conference, Talreja said the partnership was enabling Itsu to diversify away from its core demographic of London office workers, and broaden out into an evening proposition.
He said while delivery-only kitchens were not currently on the agenda, drive-thrus were a major consideration for Itsu, and were a “huge growth area”.
Talreja said with a buoyant property market, Itsu was aiming to be “courageous” in expanding the reach of its brand.
He said: “Traditionally itsu was very focused on the office worker. So we’re translating that so there’s more day parts, there’s an evening proposition.
“What that naturally does is makes us think about where we open, that has given us a really big landscape.
“In some of the partnerships that we’re embarking upon, you can sit in an Itsu and look around and see various types of families, groups, contractors and office workers.”
The partnership with Pizza Hut Restaurants, the franchise business led by Jens Hofma, gives Itsu access to much larger sites, such as Reading, for its debut dine-in-focussed concept, Talreja explained.
“We’re very encouraged by what they can bring to us, and it gives us access to a portfolio of property that if I’m honest, we probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. It’s a really positive partnership.”
While Itsu was already moving towards larger footprints and different areas, Telreja said Covid had accelerated this process.
“We’re really looking at the detail now and are taking slightly larger formats with zones, so we can accommodate all types of customers rather than the just the office worker.
“Office workers are still a heartland, we won’t lose that. But it’s definitely given us a different perspective on size, opportunities, location type and design.”
