Lunch Garden dichiara bancarotta ma vuole rilanciarsi con 42 dei 62 ristoranti

A special works council took place at Lunch Garden’s headquarters in Evere this morning. There, the unions received confirmation of what had already become known in recent days: Lunch Garden is filing for bankruptcy, followed by a partial takeover by CIM Capital.

‘This is a particularly tough decision, but it is the only way to build a sustainable future and keep as many jobs as possible,’ Stephan Brouwers, Lunch Garden’s CEO, said in the press release.

There would be a relaunch for 42 of the 62 restaurants. In doing so, the company would like to keep about half of its own staff – some 300 of some 600 people – on board, Brouwers said. There is no clarity yet on the staff of the privatised restaurants.

**Restructuring**

The restaurant chain says it has had ‘challenging’ years. The mandatory closures during the corona pandemic had a ‘profound financial impact that is still being felt’.

Certain sites pulled down the performance of the entire chain, and costs rose due to high inflation and indexations.

Over 800 people still worked at the company at the end of 2023, compared to 1,100 in 2020.

**Fresh money**

While there was ‘a positive trend in sales and operating profit’ over the past 2 years, ‘it proved insufficient to carry the necessary investments’, Lunch Garden said. As a result, shareholder ICG had to keep injecting money, and that was no longer sustainable. Therefore, the company filed for bankruptcy.

At the same time, fresh money was found, with Antwerp-based investment company CIM Capital. CIM Capital was founded 10 years ago by Marc Van Hool, a scion of the family that owned the bus and trailer manufacturer that went bankrupt just last year.

CIM Capital specialises in getting struggling companies out of the doldrums. Four years ago, for instance, the fund took over part of the shops of travel operator Neckermann. And just last year, the fund took over the chic but moribund car event Zoute Grand Prix in Knokke-Heist.

With CIM Capital, Lunch Garden hopes to relaunch as soon as possible, ‘possibly as early as today’. Specifically, the company wants to continue with 42 of 62 restaurants. ‘We are now looking forward to a new phase with a new shareholding to further strengthen Lunch Garden and make it future-proof,’ said even CEO Brouwers.

**From Resto GB to Lunch Garden**

The concept of Lunch Garden originated in the 1960s. Back then, cafeterias were built along the then GB supermarkets, where customers could eat something during their shopping trip. This was done under the name Resto GB.

When GB’s parent company took over the self-service restaurants of chain shops Sarma and Nopri, they continued together under the name Lunch Garden.

The company changed hands a number of times over the past decades and so now it is likely to change again.

**Debts and dilapidated concept**

Where exactly has Lunch Garden gone wrong in the past year? Gino Van Ossel, professor of marketing at the Vlerick Business School, sees 2 major pain points. First, he sees that the company has piled up a heavy debt mountain, partly due to the corona crisis, and that the current shareholder did not want to pump additional money into the company.

In addition, Van Ossel sees a deeper, structural problem. ‘Lunch Garden is a concept from the past that has too little connection to the present,’ he says. People went there after shopping in the nearby supermarket simply because they were hungry. ‘It was tasty and cheap.’

But in recent decades, hijackers have entered the scene, including fast food restaurants. Meanwhile, Lunch Garden has failed to incorporate fun into their formula. ‘Consumers do not think of Lunch Garden for a fun outing,’ he says. And as a result, the sleazy concept no longer appeals to a young audience.

The task now is to reinvent the concept so that Lunch Garden can attract enough customers, Van Ossel said.