VANCOUVER, BC, June 2, 2022
/CNW/ - A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (the "Fund")
(TSX: AW.UN) and A&W Food Services of Canada Inc.
("Food Services") announce that Food Services has signed a
Country Agreement (the "Agreement") with UK-based freshly
made food and organic coffee chain Pret A Manger (Europe) Limited ("Pret"), which sets
forth the general terms and conditions granting Food Services
master franchisor rights to Canada
(the "Country Agreement") for Pret A Manger.
Pursuant to the Agreement, Food Services is moving forward with
a two-year pilot of the Pret brand in Canada (the "Trial Phase") during which
period, Food Services will introduce the Pret brand within A&W
restaurants in select markets in Canada.
The first shop to trial the Pret brand will be in Vancouver and plans to open this summer.
"We are excited to introduce Pret's fresh and delicious menu
range in a select number of A&W restaurants this year. We
believe Canadian consumers will respond very positively and come to
love the Pret brand and all that it represents" commented
Susan Senecal, Chief Executive
Officer of Food Services and the Fund.
Pano Christou, Chief Executive
Officer at Pret A Manger said: "Last year, we set out our ambitions
to expand into new markets and bring Pret to more people worldwide.
I'm excited to confirm that Pret will be coming to customers in
Canada this summer through our
franchisee agreement with A&W. We know Canadians have long been
calling for Pret in their community. Thanks to this new
partnership, we're finally able to bring our freshly made food and
100% organic coffee to Canada as
part of a two-year trial."
The A&W restaurant locations that will participate in the
Trial Phase are expected to launch a Pret menu range and organic
coffees in the second quarter of 2022, with the first location
opening within an A&W in Vancouver. If the Trial Phase is successful,
Food Services will have the exclusive right to expand the Pret
brand across Canada based on an
agreed upon development schedule.
MEDIA INFO FOR A&W
Gabrielle Poirier
- gabrielle.poirier@smithcom.ca – (905) 269-1127
ABOUT THE FUND
The Fund is a limited purpose trust established to invest in
Trade Marks, which through its interest in A&W Trade Marks
Limited Partnership (the Partnership), owns the A&W trade-marks
used in the A&W quick service restaurant business in
Canada. In return for licensing Food Services to use its
trade-marks, Trade Marks (through the Partnership) receives
royalties equal to 3% of the gross sales reported by A&W
restaurants in the Royalty Pool.
About A&W Food Services
of Canada Inc.
A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. is a corporation
amalgamated under the laws of Canada and is 100 per cent
Canadian owned and is one of the strongest brand names in the
Canadian foodservice industry. A&W is the nation's second
largest hamburger restaurant company with over 1,000 locations
coast-to-coast. A&W Restaurants feature famous trade-marked
menu items such as The Burger Family®, Chubby Chicken®, and A&W
Root Beer®. For more information, please
visit www.aw.ca.
About Pret A Manger
Pret A Manger is a sandwich and coffee chain commonly referred
to as Pret and based in the United
Kingdom. The first shop opened in London in 1986. Pret's sandwiches, salads and
wraps are freshly made each day in shop kitchens using quality
ingredients and all coffees are 100% organic. Pret currently has
more than 550 shops and operates in the UK, US, Hong Kong, France, Dubai, Switzerland, Brussels, Singapore and Germany. For more information, please visit
https://www.pret.co.uk/en-GB
Forward-Looking
Information
Certain statements in this news release may contain
forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable
securities laws in Canada
(forward-looking information). The words "anticipates", "believes",
"budgets", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends",
"may", "might", "plans", "projects", "schedule", "should", "will",
"would" and similar expressions are often intended to identify
forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking
information contains these identifying words. Specific
forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the
expectation that: Food Services will be granted master franchisor
rights to Canada, Pret products
will be made available at various A&W restaurants across
Canada starting in 2022, and Food
Services will receive an exclusive license to use the Pret brand in
Canada with further development
rights.
The forward-looking information is based on assumptions that
management considered reasonable at the time it was prepared. The
forward-looking information is subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the results anticipated by the forward-looking
information.
SOURCE A&W Food Services of Canada Inc.