How Kharis Capital is banking on Foodmaker to build a European leader in healthy food

The Belgian fund is investing in the brand founded by Lieven Vanlommel and aims to accelerate its international development in a sector undergoing rapid change, combining health, speed and profitability.

The Brussels-based fund Kharis Capital is known for being the main shareholder of the QSRP group, which includes Quick, Burger King, O'Tacos, and Nordsee. These brands focus more on speed and pleasure than health. Today, Kharis Capital is taking a step into the particularly popular "health" niche. The fund has acquired a stake in the Foodmaker chain, which was previously in the hands of Lieven Vanlommel and the Wernsing Food family holding company. According to L'Echo, Kharis Capital will acquire a 49% stake. This merger between the fast-food specialist and the Belgian "fresh & healthy food" player marks a strategic turning point for the fund, which is expanding its portfolio. The goal? To create a European champion in healthy restaurants, capable of competing with the major international chains in the market.

With revenue of €60 million in 2024 and profitability of around 2%, Foodmaker is on an upward trajectory. The company, which reportedly produces nearly 150,000 meals a day in its central kitchen in Westerlo, supplies both retailers (Delhaize, Carrefour, Rewe) and its own restaurants (25 in number, mainly franchised). Its growth has accelerated recently internationally, driven particularly by Germany. Across the four European markets where it operates, the Foodmaker brand grew by 40% in 2024 and is expected to grow by a further 50% in the first four months of 2025. The company is now targeting revenue of €80 million in 2025, while maintaining a profitable and integrated structure.

For Kharis Capital, this equity investment is not simply a diversification gamble. It is part of a multi-format European platform approach, ranging from burgers to vegetarian bowls. The fund already controls more than 1,200 restaurants in Europe via QSRP and added Chopstix Noodle Bar (150 outlets in the United Kingdom) to its portfolio at the end of 2024. The ambition now is to position Foodmaker as the group's "healthy" pillar, complementary to existing fast-food chains, and to make it a leading player at the European level, with a view to reaching €300 or €400 million in turnover.

To achieve this, Foodmaker, supported by Kharis, plans to work on several fronts at once.

Southern Europe, retail and doubling of the restaurant network

With Kharis's operational and financial strength, Foodmaker's growth will inevitably involve international expansion. Today, the brand is already present in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Germany. It is in Germany that Foodmaker is recording the greatest growth. In May, Lieven Vanlommel already detailed some figures for us: "Foodmaker is recording growth of 49% in Belgium, 92% in France, and 400% in Germany. In Germany, we have gone from one region to seventeen." With Kharis, Foodmaker will be able to continue accelerating its deployment outside its four current markets (Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands), particularly in southern Europe, where management is reportedly considering opening a new production plant. Furthermore, there is no indication that Foodmaker could also expand outside of Europe. The founder of Foodmaker told us before the summer: "Before the health crisis, we had a preliminary agreement in the United States. We want to relaunch this project." »

The major area of development will be to further boost the presence of Foodmaker meals in retailers, which currently represents no less than 90% of its business. A deal with Rewe allows it to supply the group's 3,800 supermarkets. "We achieved in six months in Germany what took us twenty years in Belgium," the boss emphasized to Gondola Foodservice. There's no doubt this strategy will be replicated in new markets.

Furthermore, the development plans also include the opening of new restaurants. From 25 today, the group plans to eventually increase its sales to 50, mainly through franchises and in neighboring countries.

A strategic alliance between volume and value

The partnership between Kharis Capital and Foodmaker is based on a convergence of models: the industrial capacity and financial discipline of an international restaurant group, combined with the product innovation and "healthy" value proposition of Foodmaker. By placing the latter at the heart of its growth strategy, Kharis seeks to capture a new generation of European consumers, keen to eat quickly... but well.

The challenge now will be to transform this Belgian success story into a pan-European player in "better food", capable of combining volumes, margins and sustainability.