Deep-dish pizza concept Japes has signed its first franchise deal, marking a third site opening for the brand.
Facilitated by franchise specialists Seeds Consulting, the deal will see a venue open in Parkway, Camden Town, in Spring 2024, at a location formerly occupied by Masala Zone.
Japes was founded in 2018 by Alex and Jovana Aleksic and has two sites in London’s Soho and Greenwich.
Speaking to MCA earlier this year, Alex Aleksic said the concept looks to provide a point of differentiation with its ‘London-style’ pizza, which combines Detroit-style deep dish with Sicilian dough as an amalgamation of the best features of varied pizza styles.
The business reported a 27% rise in turnover last year compared to 2022, achieved through both a rise in customer numbers and prices.
While Japes is targeting high street and tourist locations, its Greenwich venue evidences that it can cater to different demographics and markets, Aleksic said.
The new Camden development will be headed by London-based entrepreneur and existing
UK food franchisee Ajmeet Singh, who commented: “Having been a regular pizza enthusiast, I decided to venture into the pizzeria business because I find it incredibly innovative with immense potential. This journey excites me, and I firmly believe that together, we will create a landmark in the world of delicious pizzas. I’m eager to share this culinary adventure with Japes. Here’s to crafting a memorable and flavourful experience together!”
Matteo Frigeri, managing director of Seeds Consulting, added: “Japes’ Chicago- and London-style deep-dish pizzas have generated a tremendous following, the franchise is proving equally popular. This is not a surprise: not only Japes does pizza in its own unique way, but it is also very scalable. They have said arrivederci to pizzaiolos and do not require any serious extraction. We are confident Ajmeet will do well, he is targeting multiple locations.”
Alex Aleksic said: “We express our sincere gratitude to Ajmeet and Seeds Consulting for their decision to collaborate with Japes in launching our inaugural franchised outlet. We look forward to working with both entities to ensure the success of our Camden location and lay a solid groundwork for further growth. Japes had thousands of happy guests, and our team worked very hard to make our offering simpler to operate while making it more attractive to our guests. This was a tough challenge as in most cases these two goals would take company and operations in different direction. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of our team on achieving both goals and helping us to start franchising.”
