In an interview with Le Parisien, the new boss of Flunch, Baptiste Bayart, details his plan to recover the sign which lost 57 establishments after a backup plan in 2021.
After the backup plan that led to the closure or sale of 57 restaurants in 2021, Flunch wants to move forward. Appointed last January, the new CEO of the group, Baptiste Bayart, gave an interview to our colleagues from the Parisian in which he says he wants to transform “this sign which had become impoverished into a popular sign, in the noble sense of the term”.
To do this, the very concept of the restaurant chain will be reviewed. “The somewhat sad tray, the meal eaten lukewarm in an old-fashioned setting, it’s over,” says Baptiste Bayart, referring to the “succession of losing strategies” of recent years such as that “of having wanted to double the number of restaurants then that we could have used this money to renovate everything”.
While customers, “less and less satisfied”, have been leaving the brand “for a decade”, the boss of Flunch claims to have already started the recovery and expects to return to profitability in July. A first “for a very long time”. The result, according to him, of work carried out upon his arrival with the reconciliation of “head office and restaurants, which no longer spoke to each other” or even the reduction by half of the “number of references”.
“I also dared to tackle totems, such as homemade chocolate mousse, which took a long time to make without being very important to customers. From now on, we have moved on to a chocolate mousse that is certainly industrial, but very good quality, stamped ‘F’ for Flunch”, explains Baptiste Bayart.
Renovation
The next few months will be devoted to the renovation of cafeterias with the replacement of physical checkouts “by terminals where consumers will scan their meals themselves”. Baptiste Bayart also promises “better quality bar salads” and, from October, “thematic menus: burger, pizzas, pasta, planchas, pancakes, grills and wok with, each time, a vegetarian variation”.
The Flunch of the shopping malls will also be equipped with “friendly open bars, which will offer ice creams, pancakes, but also beers and wines by the glass” and will offer “one entertainment per week: karaoke, bingo, etc.”. Finally, the price “which had not increased for 15 years, to the detriment of quality” will be revised upwards in a context of galloping inflation, with a menu at 9.45 euros, against 8.95 euros previously.
