Lagardère Travel Retail and café brand EL&N enter into exclusive partnership
The EL&N café brand is recognizable by its signature pink interior
Lagardère Travel Retail has announced that it is the exclusive franchisee of EL&N, the London-based café and lifestyle brand, in travel locations.
EL&N was founded in London in 2017 by Alexandra Miller, and according to a press release, has been developed to "become an Instagrammable destination with flower walls, pink interiors, felted armchairs and candy pink neon lights." Offerings at these cafés include "high quality coffees, pastries, cold drinks and healthy recipes combining culinary pleasure and dietary balance. The EL&N café brand is adapted to different formats, from flagship to kiosks, and offers both table or takeaway service depending on locations."
According to the release, Lagardère Travel Retail was selected as the exclusive partner "for its recognized expertise of embodying F&B brands’ DNA and delivering high standards of operational execution, [which] will support the brand’s Travel Retail development in current locations and explore opportunities to expand to new markets."
Commenting on this announcement, Mélanie Guilldou, EVP Foodservice at Lagardère Travel Retail, said, “We are very proud to enter this partnership with EL&N and to build on our shared values and very entrepreneurial business mindsets to bring EL&N’s unique and experiential concept to travelers. EL&N is one of the most recognizable, iconic brands in today’s F&B environment and we very much look forward to participating to the company’s success story and ambitions for international Travel Retail development. The addition of EL&N to our portfolio is of great value in the Travel Retail environment, where travelers are constantly looking for concepts and offers that are both unique and truly differentiating. This opens up a tremendous opportunity to appeal to new profiles of consumers – young, tech savvy, fashionable women.”
Alexandra Miller, EL&N Founder, added, "We are incredibly excited to be embarking on this brand new journey with the team at Lagardère Travel Retail. Over the past five years, we have successfully solidified our position within the F&B landscape as innovative market leaders, but now feels like the perfect timing for us to bring our offering to new territories within the Travel retail environment. This is the beginning of a dream partnership with Lagardère and we look forward to working together with the team to tap into a new demographic for EL&N.”
Building on its strong brand image, EL&N has also developed a range of retail products, including masks, steel water bottles, flasks or notebooks. EL&N has experienced fast international growth since it opened its first location in Park Lane, London, and opened its first Travel Retail café in 2020. With a global footprint now spanning the UK France, Belgium, KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, China and Scandinavia, the brand has strong ambitions to seek further growth opportunities, in travel locations in particular.
Lagardère Travel Retail is strategically investing into developing the network and expertise of its Foodservice business line. Last year the company announced two strategic acquisitions: HWH in the Middle East and Marché International in Europe and Singapore.
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