Fruit Vendor Rolls Out Restaurants

Edible Arrangements (Wallingford, Conn.), a seller of fresh fruit arrangements, is launching a quick-service restaurant concept that it plans to franchise nationally. The company said its Frutation by Edible Arrangements restaurants will feature such grab-and-go items as fresh fruit smoothies and juices, fruit and green salads and dipped fruit items.

Edible Arrangements said there are currently 20 Frutation stores throughout the country and that it has agreements with two existing franchisees to open six more in Massachusetts and three in Virginia. The also company said it would develop the Edible Arrangements and Frutation brands using two formats: A “core” Edible Arrangements store, which may carry some Frutation grab-and-go items, and a smaller “station” store, which features the Frutation items in a quick-service format.

“Over the last 10 years, we’ve worked to refine our system to enable enterprise multiunit owners to succeed and our core-station model will allow franchisees the ability to cover a broader area and introduce more consumers to the Edible Arrangements brand through Frutation,” said Tariq Farid, the company’s founder and chief executive.

The company currently operates a 913 Edible Arrangements and Frutation stores in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Italy, and Hong Kong. It plans to have 1,000 units in operation by next year.