A Le Pain Quotidien store in Brussels Airport in the bakery café chain's domestic Belgian market | Photo credit: Autogrill

Belgian bakery café chain Le Pain Quotidien has joined New York-based restaurant chain Little Beet to form a new hospitality group Convive Brands. 
 

In a press release, Convive Brands said it was developing the proprietary tools, processes and infrastructure to scale Le Pain Quotidien and Little Beet brands to ‘realise their full potential in markets across the US’. 

Bakery café chain Le Pain Quotidien currently operates 56 US outlets, while exclusively gluten-free restaurant operator Little Beet has 12 locations across New York and Washington DC. Little Beet also has a Table by Little Beet store in New York. 
 

All three brands were previously operated in the US by New York-based hospitality group Aurify Brands. Aurify’s founders, John Rigos and Andy Stern, are investors in Convive Brands. 

The new operating platform will be led by Jon Weber, a former CEO and President of Pizza Hut and Wendy’s franchise group NPC International. 

"With the launch of Convive Brands, we are creating a new platform that will support meaningful growth, value creation and opportunity for our team members. Le Pain Quotidien, Little Beet and Table by Little Beet are high quality brands, and we are excited to help them flourish," said Weber, CEO, Convive Brands. 

The US has a strong food-focused café presence, led by Panera Bread, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Cinnabon, with 2,173, 693 and 646 stores respectively. 

Founded in Brussels in 1990, Le Pain Quotidien has grown to over 250 locations globally. The company has a presence in 15 countries, including Belgium, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and the UK.