Muffin Break expands its footprint in Northern Ireland, with the opening of its second café in Belfast creating 12 new jobs
The opening of the new kiosk café in Lesley Forestside Shopping Centre will focus on food-to-go – however boss confirms ‘we’re actively looking for new sites and franchise partners in Northern Ireland'
Muffin Break, an Australian-owned brand of onsite bakery cafés, is expanding its footprint in Northern Ireland, with the opening of its second café in Belfast.
Located in Lesley Forestside Shopping Centre, the opening of the new kiosk café has seen Muffin Break invest over £150,000 in the new concept, with the creation of 12 new full-time and part-time roles.
With a smaller footprint than traditional Muffin Break stores, and a focus on food-to-go, the kiosk concept is a first for the Foodco-owned Muffin Break brand in the UK.
The Lesley Forestside location was chosen as the first in the UK to trial this concept due to the significant footfall in the Centre and the central location of the Kiosk, which is located towards the south end of the mall.
The new Muffin Break outlet is a sister business of Jamaica Blue, which has been successfully trading in Lesley Forestside for the past three years and it’s the third location for Muffin Break in Northern Ireland - in addition to its stores in Castle Court and the Buttercrane Shopping Centre, Newry.
Speaking about the opening of the new Forestside location, Michael Johnson, franchise development executive at FoodCo UK, said: “Over the past few years, we have enjoyed a host of FoodCo openings in Northern Ireland with our franchised Jamaica Blue and Muffin Break concepts.
“Muffin Break has been particularly well received in central Belfast thanks to our premium coffee offering and freshly baked goods, so, when the opportunity presented itself to trial a new, smaller footprint model of Muffin Break store in a shopping centre that we knew well, the time was right to open our third Muffin Break outlet in Northern Ireland.”
Renowned for its freshly baked goods, coffee and lunch options, Muffin Break is committed to providing the highest quality food and coffee, prepared fresh, in-store every day.
Owned by the FoodCo Group, the first Muffin Break bakery café in the UK opened its doors in 2001 and has now a footprint of 68 outlets nationwide, including its three Northern Ireland locations.
Speaking on future locations, Michael Johnson added: “We now have three Muffin Break outlets and two Jamacia Blue cafes in NI, and we’re actively looking for new sites and franchise partners in Northern Ireland.
“FoodCo is a progressive hospitality franchise business with big ambitions. Globally, there are over 550 locations across eight counties, and here in Northern Ireland, we’re keen to grow with the right partners.”
Muffin Break is open seven days a week from 8am at Lesley Forestside. Franchise opportunities are available across Northern Ireland.