Kahala-Cold Stone today announced the acquisition of Cereality® Cereal Bar & Café. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2003, Cereality is a new concept in the QSR space, specializing in creating a unique and entertaining experience around the American ritual of eating cereal. Customers choose a base from Cereality’s menu of more than 30 cereal varieties and signature cereal blends, and select from 40 toppings and mix-in combinations to create their ultimate bowl topped with their favorite assorted milk and hot and cold beverage. The offerings extend to parfaits, smoothies, cereal bars and other bakery items.
“When we formed Kahala-Cold Stone, we promised to aggressively seek out acquisitions of leading brands in the quick-service space to grow the portfolio of franchise brands for partners, and this is the first of many to come,” said Kevin Blackwell, chairman and chief strategist of Kahala-Cold Stone. ”
Cereality has seven cafés in operation, with an eighth location scheduled to open at JFK International Airport later this month. Cereality currently holds franchise commitments for the opening of an additional 24 cafés over the next six years. Prior to 2007, Cereality had wholly owned and operated all of its cafés. There are now two franchise locations open and the company has received more than 7,000 inquiries to date from entrepreneurs interested in opening Cerealities across the country.
“We believe Kahala-Cold Stone is well-placed to scale the Cereality concept and create new opportunities for our more than 3,000 franchisees who are very taken with the concept and eager to explore multi-branding within our portfolio,” said Doug Ducey, CEO of Kahala-Cold Stone.
Cereality marks the first acquisition by the recently formed Kahala-Cold Stone, the next wave in brand building with the vision, experience and track record for delivering to market new and robust franchise opportunities to entrepreneurs worldwide. On May 10, 2007 Kahala-Cold Stone was formed through the combination of Kahala Corp. the Cold Stone Creamery®, the fastest-growing ice cream concept in the United States.
