Buffalo Grill
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Genre | Themed restaurant |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | Christian Picart |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | France,SwitzerlandandSpain |
Key people | Jocelyn Olive (Chairman], Ivan Schofield (non executive director) |
| Products | grilled meat, ribs, burgers, french fries, desserts |
| Revenue | 557M€ (2017) |
Number of employees | 7750 (2017) |
| Website | www.buffalo-grill.fr |
Buffalo Grillis anAmerican-themedsteakhousechainheadquartered inMontrouge, France.Outlets are primarily sited inretail parksand medium-sized city outskirt locations.
Buffalo Grill is France's largest themed restaurant chain (as measured by sales and locations) with 360 locations in 3 countries (France,SwitzerlandandSpain). The majority of the locations are in France.
Buffalo Grill serves about 31 million meals per year and reached over €557 million of sales in 2017.[1]Buffalo Grill has been chosen as the favorite restaurant brand by the French three times, most recently in 2018.[2]The award is based on a study byErnst & Youngin which a panel of 8,500 consumers chose Buffalo Grill as the best brand.
History
[edit]Buffalo Grill was founded in September 1980 by Christian Picart. The first location opened inAvrainville,Essonne.Four years later, Picard opened a second outlet in France and then a first franchise inAnnecy.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the chain continued its expansion inFrancewith its unique menu.[3]By the end of 1995, the chain offered over 140 outlets, with 38 asfranchises.In 1997, it opened 3 restaurants inBelgiumand one inMadrid,followed by other outlets in Spain, two inLuxembourgand one inSwitzerland.In 1999, the group went public on theParis Stock Exchange.
In 2005, the company was sold toColony Capitalwhich acquired a majority stake (83%). Three years later, Buffalo Grill was sold to Abenex & Nixen Partners.[4]
In 2017, private equity fundTDR Capital LLPacquired the company, a value estimated at around €400 million.[5]
As of July 2019, Buffalo Grill reported it had 360 outlets (including 100 franchises), with over 5,000 employees.[6] In 2020 the last Luxemburg location has been closed.RTL Today news from 14.02.2019
Operations
[edit]About two-thirds of Buffalo Grill outlets are company-owned and the rest are operated by franchise holders.
The company has its headquarters at 9, Boulevard du Général de Gaulle,Montrouge,France.
In April 2018, Ivan Schofield (non executive director) and Jocelyn Olive (chairman) began running the company.
| Country | Number of restaurants |
|---|---|
| France | 351 |
| Spain | 6 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
Controversies
[edit]British beef
[edit]In December 2001, Buffalo Grill allegations emerged that the chain had sold British beef, banned in Germany due to fears ofBSEcontamination, between 1997 and 2000.[7]In October 2003, manslaughter charges against the firm's executives were dismissed in respect of twovCJDsufferers, who claimed to have caught the disease from the firm's beef. Two employees spent three months in prison prior to their acquittal.[8]After more than 15 years of investigation, the case was dismissed.[9]The firm's sales suffered considerably due to the scandal, but by 2004 were on the rise again.[10]
Illegal employees
[edit]On June 4, 2007, it was reported[11]that approximately 15% of Buffalo Grill's employees were foreign. A significant number, mostly from Africa, hadillegal immigrantstatus in France. The chain's management was accused of slave-like working conditions, threats and disobeying statelabour lawsby some of its former employees, who occupied a restaurant inViry-Châtillon(Essonne in the outskirts of Paris).
References
[edit]- ^[1],buffalo grill website
- ^"Buffalo Grill, enseigne de restauration préférée des Français".Observatoire de la franchise(in French).
- ^Solène (2023-08-21)."Buffalo Grill Menu Prix France 2023 et Photos".frmenu.org(in French).Retrieved2023-12-14.
- ^"Le britannique TDR Capital s'offre Buffalo Grill".Capital Finance(in French). 2017-10-18.
- ^"Buffalo Grill est repris par un fonds britannique".Les Echos(in French). 2017-10-17.
- ^"Buffalo grill | TDR Capital".www.tdrcapital.com.Retrieved2019-07-12.
- ^Henley, Jon (2003-01-09)."Beefed-up charges?".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.
- ^"Charges reduced in French beef case",BBC news
- ^"Affaire Buffalo Grill: la justice referme quinze ans d'enquête sur un non-lieu".Le Point(in French). 2016-03-15.
- ^"Sales surge"ArchivedOctober 17, 2006, at theWayback Machine,Meat News
- ^LeMonde.fr: « Nos patrons menaçaient de nous livrer à la police »
External links
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