Ghost kitchen operator Reef is looking to buy a piece of one of its restaurant partners.
The company on Thursday said it was “pursuing an ownership stake” in 800 Degrees Go, a pizza concept that has an agreement to open 500 units with Reef over the next five years.
As part of the deepening relationship, Kenneth Rourke, Reef’s EVP of kitchens and brands, is joining the pizza concept’s board of directors. At the same time, Reef is looking to take a bigger share in the company, the parameters of which would be tied to the performance of 800 Degrees’ Reef locations, the companies said in a press release.
A representative had not responded to a request for more details as of publication time.
Miami-based Reef operates delivery-only food trailers as a licensee of numerous restaurant concepts, including Wendy’s, Denny’s and TGI Fridays. At the start of this year, it had more than 400 locations worldwide.
"As one of the largest operators of restaurant brands in the world, Reef is looking for incredible brands with potential for growth globally," Rourke said in a statement. "We're investing heavily in the success of 800 Degrees Go into our ghost kitchens because we believe 800 Degrees Go is one of those brands. We look forward to growing the brand as well as our stake in the company."
800 Degrees Go is a spinoff of 800 Degrees Woodfired Kitchen, a sit-down concept with 16 locations. The off-premise-focused 800 Degrees Go was developed in partnership with Piestro, a robotics company that has its own deal with 800 Degrees to open thousands of fully automated pizza vending machines.
Go believes nontraditional formats like ghost kitchens and robots will allow it to scale quickly and profitably. So far, it has opened more than 40 Reef locations in 13 markets, and plans to have more than 100 up and running by the end of this year. It expects to generate $19 million in annual sales by 2023 and $160 million within the next five years, which would put it among the 200 or so largest U.S restaurant chains. (Those sales don’t include its robotic units.)
The company is running a crowd-funding campaign to help finance its ambitious expansion plans. As of Thursday, it had raised more than $2.6 million of its $4.5 million goal with less than a week to go.
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