German chopped salad restaurant 'could open 300 UK sites in next 10 years'

Franchise owner Hero Brands, which also operates German Doner Kebab (GDK), will oversee the rollout of the chain, with the first flagship Choppaluna restaurant due to open in London’s Bloomsbury this October.

GDK is notable for expanding aggressively since entering the UK market in 2016.

In May the brand said it was planning to open a new restaurant in the UK every two weeks for the rest of the year, taking it from 33 to 47 sites nationally.

Plans to bring Salaid to the UK were first revealed by BigHospitality’s​ sister site MCA​​​ in January.

The brand’s founder, Nikras Agha, says he believes 300 Choppaluna restaurants could open across the UK over the next 10 years.

At present 12 further locations have been agreed, with plans to expand to other UK cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh after launching in central London.

Conceived in Berlin, the restaurant business serves healthy meals such as chopped salads, smoothie bowls and ‘choprolls’ (a wrap containing salad).

“We came up with idea in 2015 after I saw chopped salad restaurants in the US with my wife and thought it would work in Germany,” says Agha.

“The business has gone from strength to strength, so expanding it in the UK was the next logical step.”