Centred around the theatre of our Lively Kitchen we are committed to enriching the lives of our guests, Chimu (employees), and partners through a winning combination of our famous and delicious freshly-made udon noodle and tempura dishes, fast & friendly service and a great value price point. Our mission is to introduce and lead the Udon noodle category, and now we’re looking for the right people to help us bring Udon to all in the UK & Europe.
Industry Sector(s)
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Meet Marugame. The world’s favourite udon kitchen.
An established global presence
The founder of Marugame Udon, Awata-san, started the first Marugame Udon restaurant 20 years ago. His inspiration came from the traditional udon kitchens in the city of Sanuki, in the Kagawa prefecture, a place close to his heart.
It took Awata-san time and effort to build Marugame into the loved brand it is nowadays, with a global presence and raving fans from Tokyo to Texas!
In the UK and Europe, Marugame Udon Europe Ltd is a joint venture between Toridoll Group (Marugame Udon’s parent company) and Capdesia. Toridoll provide unrivalled expertise in Japanese cuisine and the Marugame Udon brand; Capdesia provide hospitality expertise in UK and European markets.
- 850+ Marugame restaurants in Japan
- 1250+ Marugame restaurants globally
- Ranked no.1 for customer service in Japan
- Winner of R200 Best Value Restaurant Brand 2022
Who are we?
Centred around the theatre of our Lively Kitchen we are committed to enriching the lives of our guests, Chimu (employees), and partners. We have a winning combination of our famous and delicious freshly-made udon noodle and tempura dishes, fast & friendly service and a great value price point.
Recently established, and proudly bringing the Marugame experience to thousands of delighted guests every day in London; Our mission at Marugame Udon Europe is to introduce and lead the udon noodle category in the UK & Europe. We are looking for the right with the right franchise partners to join us in bringing Udon to all. From site selection through to launching your first Marugame Udon Kitchen, our support team will be with you every step of the way.
Japan’s favourite hand-made udon
There is growing demand for Japanese cuisine amongst UK consumers. Our food is fresh, cooked to order in view of the customer and our menu combines authentic dishes with others more familiar to the wider audience. We are focused on achieving our mission of “Udon for Everyone”.
Udon in Japan is for all, and its broad appeal is growing within the UK across all demographics. From rich to poor, young to old, we are committed to bring this daily ritual to all.
Expanding to the UK
Our first opening in the UK was in July 2021. Marugame Udon now has 11 stores – Liverpool Street, The O2, Canary Wharf, St Christopher’s Place, Brent Cross, Oxford Circus, Bromley, Waterloo, High Street Kensington, The Strand and Reading.
We have ambitious plans to bring the Marugame experience to more customers each year, building up a network of restaurants across the UK and Europe.
Capability and resource
The Marugame Udon Europe team has been in place since 2020, with growth and scale central to the foundations of the business. UK hospitality expertise, high-volume quality operations, brand roll out and international growth is central to our skill set. Marugame Udon has been built with the infrastructure to “take us to 200”. We have invested heavily in building an integrated systems platform enabling us to operate multiple restaurants efficiently and effectively. For example, we measure our queue time and movement down the counter through ‘Eyezilla’ movement cameras.
Our Marugame Club is a powerful single customer view, giving us full customer history and allowing us to drive behaviour and affect frequency. We operate a paperless environment, with electronic operational checklists, health and safety systems, online ordering, customer feedback, training and development, recruitment applicant tracking systems, allergens, labour management, single customer view, loyalty club, business tracking and intelligence.
As a start-up with no established ways of working, we have been able to build sustainable ways of working into the Marugame operation from the outset. We may be small in the UK currently, but we are built with strong and sturdy foundations that you can rely upon.
Ideal partners
Our ideal franchise partners will be experienced restaurant operators likely with a multi-brand portfolio looking to expand and diversify. Our wishlist includes:
- Current multi-brand restaurant / F&B portfolio
- Experience in operating international brands
- Has experience in site finding and new site openings
- Strong knowledge of their local trading area
- Is looking for a multi-unit investment
- Desire to expand and diversify
We have a desire to work with partners who will live and breathe our working philosophies, including: providing nourishment and development for our teams, and doing the right thing for our people, customers, brand, and the planet.
For more information, get in touch with us by clicking below.
