Itsu is a British chain of

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South ...

-inspired fast food shops and restaurants and a grocery company.Moules, Jonathan
"Itsu founder nurtures a new generation"
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

'', London, 21 January 2014. Retrieved on 21 January 2014. The chain was founded by

Julian Metcalfe Julian Edward Metcalfe Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 14 December 1959) is a British entrepreneur and founder of food retailers Itsu, and Metcalfe's Food Company. According to the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' in 2019, Metcalfe is worth £ ...

, co-founder of sandwich chain

Pret a Manger Pret A Manger (''prêt à manger'' is French for ''ready to eat'') is an international sandwich shop franchise chain based in the United Kingdom, popularly referred to as Pret, founded in 1983. As of December 2022, Pret had 434 shops in the UK ...

, in partnership with

Clive Schlee Clive Edward Benedict Schlee (born March 1959) is a British businessman, and was CEO of the UK fast food chain Pret a Manger from 2003-2019. He is related to several companies, e. g. ITSU Limited, Action Rock Limited, Shire Cape Limited. Early li ...

. The first Itsu store opened in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

in 1997. , Itsu has 76 stores in England, including 54 in London, and one abroad, located in

Brussels Airport Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...

. Itsu roceryproducts are sold at various supermarket chains in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and online."Itsu grocery-where to buy
"Itsu grocery" By 2013, Itsu was serving over nine million customers per year.

Outlets and expansion

Itsu,_Commercial_Street,_Leeds_(29th_March_2018)

In April 2013, Itsu announced plans to open 20 more stores in London over the next three years. By September 2013, Itsu opened its first shop outside London, in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. In January 2016, Itsu expanded into

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

, choosing

Spinningfields Spinningfields is an area of Manchester city centre, in North West England, developed in the 2000s between Deansgate and the River Irwell by Allied London Properties. The £1.5 billion project consists of twenty new buildings, totalling approxi ...

in central

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

as the site for its first Northern store. The chain later opened a branch in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

. In June 2018, The restaurant opened a branch in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

's Midtown.

Itsu rocery/h1>
In March 2012,
Metcalfe's Food Company Metcalfe’s Food Company was a privately owned food business set up in 2010 by Julian Metcalfe, the founder of the sandwich chain Pret A Manger and Robert Jakobi. Metcalfe’s Food Company sold products under two brands Metcalfes Skinny and it ...
, run by
Robert Jakobi Robert Jakobi (born April 7, 1985) is a Food entrepreneur. He is the former Managing Director and Co Owner of Metcalfe's Food Company, which was founded by Julian Metcalfe in 2009. Early life and education Robert Jakobi grew up in London and ...
, launched the Itsu brand into retailVince Bamford
"Itsu to target retailers with new Asian snacks"
The Grocer, June 2011 under the name Itsu rocery The Itsu roceryproducts are sold throughout UK supermarkets, including
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company w ...
,
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...
,
Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...
,
Co-op Food Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom. Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used "The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co ...
, and
Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A U ...
.

Partnerships

In January 2014, Itsu became the official partner of the

Volleyball England Volleyball England is the national governing body for indoor volleyball, sitting volleyball and beach volleyball in England. It selects the national teams and coordinates several national competitions, including the National Volleyball League, N ...

Beach Tour.Charlotte Edwardes
"Mr Itsu: Julian Metcalfe on beautiful lean cuisine, why he loves London's hard-working immigrants and his noisy troupe of children and steps
"London Evening Standard", 3 February 2014

References

External links

Official website

itsu Grocery website
{{Food chains in the United Kingdom, state=expanded Restaurants in London Asian restaurants in the United Kingdom Restaurants established in 1997