Lagardère Travel Retail and EL&N announced that they have entered into a partnership whereby Lagardère Travel Retail becomes the exclusive franchisee of the London-based café and lifestyle brand in travel locations.
This partnership is an important milestone towards Lagardère Travel Retail’s ambition to develop its Foodservice leadership in Europe.
EL&N, created in London in 2017 by founder Alexandra Miller, is a global brand of cafés which has been developed to become an instagrammable destination with iconic flower walls, pink interiors, felted armchairs and candy pink neon lights. In this stunning decor, customers can enjoy a selection of drinks – including the famous pink lattes – and culinary creations. The wide range of products includes high quality coffees, a large choice of pastries, innovative cold drinks and healthy recipes combining culinary pleasure and dietary balance. EL&N café brand is adapted to different format, from flagship to kiosks, and offers both table or takeaway service depending on locations.
Building on its strong brand image, EL&N has also developed a range of retail products, including masks, steel water bottles, flasks or notebooks, to take care of oneself holistically, not only in terms of nutrition.
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 pink perfect brand has strong ambitions to seek further growth opportunities, in travel locations in particular.
Lagardère Travel Retail, which has been selected as exclusive partner by EL&N for its recognized expertise of embodying F&B brands’ DNA and delivering high standards of operational execution, 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 brand 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.”
Also commenting on the announcement, Alexandra Miller, EL&N Founder, said: “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.”
Lagardère Travel Retail is strategically investing into developing the network and expertise of its Foodservice business line. Last year the company has announced two strategic acquisitions: HWH in the Middle East and Marché International in Europe and Singapore.
In 2019, Lagardère Travel Retail’s Foodservice business line achieved over a billion euro in sales, doubling its turnover over the course of just three years, and is widely recognized by the industry, winning several awards every year.
