Groupe Le Duff is a French restaurant conglomerate, with holdings in Europe and the Americas, consisting of over 1,310 restaurants and bakeries. It includes
Bridor,
La Madeleine, Kamps,
Mimi's Cafe, Pizza Del Arte, and
Brioche Dorée.
The company was founded in 1976, by
Louis Le Duff, with the opening of the first Brioche Dorée in
Brest, France.
As of 2014, the company had 28,000 employees and sales of € 1.5 billion.
Its headquarters are in
Rennes
Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
, France.
History
Louis Le Duff opened his first establishment with the Brioche Dorée sign in 1976 with the equivalent of €1,500 of personal contribution. He created the first “French-style” fast food establishment.
In 1983, Louis Le Duff diversified the group's activities with the creation of the "Pizzeria Lucio" chain which merged with the Pizza Del Arte brand, renamed Del Arte after its takeover from the Accor Group in 1996.
In 1984, the first Bridor factory opened in Montreal. Four years later the first hexagonal unit moved to Servon-sur-Vilaine in Ille-et-Vilaine.
In 1989, the Le Duff Group acquired the Fournil de Pierre brand. In July 2022, Le Duff acquired Lecoq Cuisine Corp., a Connecticut-based manufacturer of Viennese and French-style pastries.
Le Duff America
Le Duff America operates the conglomerate's US restaurant chains. These consist primarily of
La Madeleine Country French Café,
Brioche Dorée, and
Mimi's Cafe. Le Duff America is headquartered in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. It was formed following the acquisition of
Bruegger's
Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. is a restaurant operator and subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based company JAB Holding Company. Bruegger's and its wholly-owned subsidiary Threecaf Brands Canada, Inc., are franchisers and operators of Bruegger's baker ...
by Groupe Le Duff in 2011, at the time naming Bruegger's CEO
James J. Greco and CEO of Groupe Le Duff's prior American operations, Claude Bergeron, as co-CEOs of Le Duff America. Le Duff sold Bruegger's in 2017 to Caribou Coffee.
In 2018,
MTY Food Group
MTY Food Group Inc. is a Canadian franchisor and operator of numerous casual dining, fast casual, and quick service restaurants operating under more than 70 brand names, some of them through wholly owned subsidiaries. Headquartered in the Montr ...
announced the acquisition of Timothy's World Coffee along with Mmmuffins from Le Duff America.
References
External links
Groupe Le Duff website (English-language version)
Catering and food service companies of France
Companies based in Brittany
French companies established in 1976
Restaurant chains in France
Rennes
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