The first UK sites will open in the fourth quarter of 2021 in Birmingham and Nottingham city centres as well as in the West Midlands Regional Shopping centre. They will be operated by Extrawurst, which will then roll the model out to franchisees, with up to 100 sites planned for the UK in the next three years.
Extrawurst is one of the leading German bratwurst fast-food brands with more than 30 restaurants in Germany and presence in Asia and South America. The UK business is being headed up by Sam Shutt, former Debenhams head of retail hospitality operations, partnerships and business development and Philpotts managing director.
“The UK food-to-go market is expected to recover from the pandemic at a faster rate than the total eating out market so there’s an opportunity for an innovative new offer on the high-street which delivers an exciting range of good value quality food,” says Shutt.
“As a nation we love sausages, they are the perfect food to eat on the go all through the day, whether as a breakfast snack or a lunchtime meal with a coffee. We are confident our menu will appeal to consumers and entice them to become bratwurst enthusiasts.”
The menu will feature a choice of pork bratwurst sausage in a bun as well as a range of currywurst, frikadelle and schnitzel options all served with a choice of sauce toppings, sides and spices. The chain will also be a introducing a vegan bratwurst in to the UK market.
The brand is seeking to launch three Extrawurst formats which will be located in a range of locations including shopping centres, high streets, street food markets, festivals and events. Macro will be a counter service shop format with a small seating area designed for high street and shopping centre locations; midi will be a relocatable container that can be positioned in food markets and events; and micro – a tuk-tuk for seasonal events and pop-up venues.
Extrawurst was founded in 1981 by Lothar Hagebaum and is now run by his son Kim Hagebaum. It sells more than 2.5 million sausages a year.