Muscle Maker, Inc., the parent company of Muscle Maker Grill & Healthy Joe’s, a fast-casual concept known for serving “healthier for you” meals, announced it has signed a 10-location agreement with a major industry leading delivery-only kitchen provider. The delivery-only kitchen concept has already opened facilities in several key markets. Muscle Maker plans to open its first five delivery-only kitchens in the Chicago market this April and has sights on other major metropolitan markets for future growth. The rapid expansion into new markets provides a great opportunity to not only grow overall brand recognition, but to also generate significant revenue for the company at a low capital cost.

“We are excited to announce this agreement and view it as another logical extension of our “non-traditional” growth model. The delivery-only kitchen concept will allow Muscle Maker Grill and Healthy Joe’s to expand quickly, and with limited required capex, nationwide into major cities across America creating name recognition and economies of scale.” “Delivery is already a large portion of Muscle Maker Grill’s business model in major metropolitan areas, with some of our urban locations posting up to 80 percent delivery sales,” says Mike Roper, CEO of Muscle Maker Grill. “Delivery continues to grow as a percentage of revenue throughout the [quick-service] market, and we want to be well positioned to expand our geographic reach to accommodate demand. We see this agreement as an exciting first step, with what can be a much larger opportunity over the near term. This opportunity supports the brand’s long-term strategy of corporate owned and operated locations in non-traditional areas such as military bases, universities, and airports.”

Delivery-only kitchens are built around proprietary technology and processes to ensure efficient operations and delivery. All locations are optimized for delivery and catering, reducing total labor costs and overhead. Delivery-only kitchens have become the more economical way to take part in the fast-growing delivery economy. Delivery in the fast-casual segment has increased 72 percent compared to two years ago, making these kitchens a very attractive avenue for restaurant brands. Third-party fees can be offset by lower labor costs and overhead while build out costs are extremely low compared to full scale locations.