Company aims to create multi-brand mobile and brick-and-mortar operation
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The Grilled Cheese Truck Inc. plans to acquire the parent to The Lobos Truck chain, the company said Monday, the latest move in an ongoing portfolio expansion that is also adding brick-and-mortar restaurants to the mix.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Grilled Cheese Truck said it has signed a letter of intent to acquire The SeaWolf Group LLC, which operates four comfort-food trucks under The Lobos Truck brand in Southern California.
When the deal is complete, The Lobos Truck will be the fourth food truck brand operated by The Grilled Cheese Truck Inc., said Robbie Lee, the Grilled Cheese Truck’s executive chairman. The company was created in 2012 to build a multi-brand food-truck empire.
In Southern California, the goal is to see the Lobos trucks join the Grilled Cheese trucks at large-scale events, such as the music festivals Coachella and Stagecoach.
The deal is the latest in The Grilled Cheese Truck’s growth.
Earlier this year, the 10-unit operator acquired the national master franchise rights to The Original Soupman brand, which will include franchising both brick-and-mortar and mobile units.
The goal is to grow both the Grilled Cheese and the Soupman brands with mobile carts in New York City, as well as food trucks in the greater Philadelphia market.
Some units will be hybrids with a combined Grilled Cheese/Soupman menu, Lee said, but it will also be possible to open a Grilled Cheese cart next to a Soupman cart on some busy New York streets.
Soupman Inc., parent to the Original Soupman brand, operates the original restaurant location made famous in the “Soup Nazi” episode of the television program “Seinfeld.” The company also produces more than 50 varieties of soup, available in grocery stores.
Under the deal, The Grilled Cheese Truck has agreed to pay $2 million to Soupman Inc. in growth capital, as well as 25 percent of all franchise fees and royalties collected, according to Soupman officials.
Lee said the goal is to recruit qualified veterans to work the carts and trucks in the New York-Philadelphia branch of the expansion. The company hopes to have as many as 50 outlets open in the region in the first year, and plans include moves into other markets down the road.
“Our ambitious goal is to be a significant leader in the mobile truck world and to give qualified veterans an opportunity to have ownership,” said Lee, noting that retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark serves on the company’s board.
More acquisitions are planned that will allow the company to build a national network of food trucks and brick-and-mortar locations, which ideally will allow the company to build on its commitment to provide job and ownership opportunities to veterans, Lee said.
A publicly traded penny stock, The Grilled Cheese Truck Inc. has also announced plans to acquire three franchise-operated brick-and-mortar locations of the Ruby’s Diner concept in Pennsylvania.
The Ruby’s units will continue to operate as the diner, but their kitchens will also service the Grilled Cheese and Soupman food truck operations in the regions as a sort of commissary, Lee said.
In 2013, the company also acquired the Texas-based Hook and Ladder Beer Truck.
Across the country, The Grilled Cheese Truck Inc. is building its relationships with other major venues, as well as smaller-scale events like weddings, bar mitzvahs and birthday parties.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
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