Foodtastic has expanded its restaurant portfolio with the acquisition of Toronto-based Kinton Ramen, giving the company its first entry into the Japanese dining segment.

“I think they built a great concept, and James (Kim), the founder has done an amazing job, and we’re just honoured to be entrusted with Kinton, and hopefully we live up to his expectations,” Peter Mammas, founder and chief executive officer of Foodtastic, said to FoodNX in an interview.

Foodtastic — which now has 30 brands and more than 1,200 locations — will onboard Kinton Ramen’s more than 55 locations in five provinces and one restaurant in New York state.

But the Japanese food franchise is on a growth phase of its own, according to Mammas.

“They already have around 20 (new locations) that are in the pipeline, so we’re going to continue to expand on that. We have a network coast to coast, so we have operational people from Halifax all the way to Vancouver, so we can bring the brand to even more provinces and more partners.”

Growth story began in 2012

As one of the largest Ramen restaurant chains in North America, it was first established in 2012 in Toronto. Today its Canadian locations are in Ontario, B.C., Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba. It offers dine-in, takeout and delivery options.

But the deal didn’t happen overnight. “It actually took quite a long time. The first time we started talking was about three years ago,” Mammas explained.

The interest began when he started visiting the restaurant.  

“Me and my family, we would go to Kinton and eat, and at one point I said, ‘This is a nice concept, and we should see if we could get something done.’ So, we got in contact with them, we had some initial discussions but there were a lot of partners there, and they were actually growing," Mammas said. "It took us about three years before we could actually nail down a deal, so I’m really happy it concluded, and it’s part of the Foodtastic family now.”

While negotiations continued, founder Kim was initially reluctant to sell, Mammas said.

“Most founder-led companies take time. When founders are selling their so-called baby, once they start realizing that they’re actually selling something they created from scratch, it becomes personal.”

Consistent dining experience 

What attracted Foodtastic was its unique concept, economics and consistency across locations.

“I tried a few of them here in Montreal. I found them good. We have an office in Toronto, which I travel to often, and then I started going to the ones in Toronto, and I saw even between provinces, the quality, the consistency was always there,” Mammas said.

The process of bringing Kinton Ramen into the Foodtastic fold should take about six months, Mammas continued. With its shared services, such as marketing and finance, he doesn’t expect there to be any hiccups.

Typically, Foodtastic also relies upon the acquired firm’s staff to bolster the team. “We’ve inherited a lot of great marketing and accounting and finance people from Kinton, so we’re going to integrate them into Foodtastic.”

Double size of ramen restaurants

As it works to integrate Kinton Ramen, Foodtastic has set an ambitious growth target.

“I’d like in the next four to five years, to double the size. That’s what I’ve told my people, and they all seem quite confident we could get it done,” Mammas said.

Foodtastic is also in the process of bringing Dunkin’ Donuts to Canada, and Mammas shared a few more targets for future acquisitions.

“We’re not in breakfast right now, we’re not in QSR (quick-service restaurant) burger, we’re not in delivered pizza. There’s a few more markets that we could get into, and you’ll probably see a few announcements over the next 12 months.”