Taster

About Taster

Taster builds delivery-first food concepts and franchises them to the next generation of restaurateurs. Taster’s brands include Out Fry (Korean fried chicken), A Burgers (dirty vegan burgers), Pepe Chicken (American fried chicken) and Mission Saigon (traditional Vietnamese). The company was founded in 2017 by Anton Soulier (ex-Deliveroo) and operates more than 170 “digital” restaurants, including 30 franchise locations, across the UK, France, Spain and Belgium, working with entrepreneurs and kitchen operators to cook and deliver Taster brands. The company has raised $50m to date (including a $37m Series B) and is backed by top investors. In May 2022, Taster moved into Manchester after securing its first franchise partner in the city, vegan brand Panc Foods, which operates from a kitchen in Ardwick. Soulier said: "Manchester is a really exciting and dynamic foodie hub for both restaurant owners and consumers. Our launch partner is already seeing the potential of what is in store, and we’ve had positive conversations with passionate restaurant owners across the city, who grasp the opportunity of food that is designed for delivery.” In October 2022, Taster partnered with Jamie Oliver for the launch of his Pasta Dreams range, including several pop-up sites. In 2023, Taster has partnered with Urban Kitchens to expand to the Netherlands, saying the country is a key focus as it “expands rapidly”, and partnered with UK rapper ArrDee for a new fried chicken concept, Ugly Chicken. In March 2024, Bertrand Peyrat became Taster’s new chief executive, with Soulier becoming chairman of the business, which reached the €100m annualised sales mark last year. Soulier said: “We have achieved and evolved so much over the last few years. Creating a brand, new model back in 2017 by creating the digital-first food brands, developing a full-stacked technology to manage food operations from end-to-end, evolving toward a full-franchise model, embracing the creator’s economy and launching brands that quickly became top-ranking on the delivery platforms and super popular with a Generation Z audience. However, Taster is in the early days of reaching its full potential. And I’m convinced that Bertrand has the calibre, a genuine passion for food and the wealth of experience to take it to the next level.”

Why franchise with Taster

• ✓Once you sign as a Taster partner, the company’s Kitchen Partner Trainers help you set up and launch a Taster brand from your kitchen in under four weeks for a minimal set up fee (£1,500) and no additional overheads. Partners can make an additional £200,000-£500,000 in turnover per brand, per year. Taster partners keep the profit they make on orders (minus Taster’s royalty) so there are no surprise fees. Taster provides a bespoke tech suite, negotiated supply chain, marketing support, customer care and delivery platform management.