Pokemoto Sees 300%+ Future Location Growth with 40 New Locations Inked, Open or Under Construction

Muscle Maker, Inc.’s Pokemoto Division Expands with New Franchise Agreement Signed, Extending Market Leader Position in Connecticut as Largest Hawaiian Poke Chain

LEAGUE CITY, TEX. - (NewMediaWire) - February 07, 2022 - Muscle Maker, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: GRIL) newest subsidiary Pokemoto, today announced it has signed a new franchise agreement in Connecticut, the brand’s core market with the strongest presence of Pokemoto eateries. With this latest addition, Connecticut now has 15 Pokemoto locations (10 currently open and 5 future franchise locations). Pokemoto is the largest Hawaiian Poke chain in the Connecticut market today with plans to continue its expansion through franchising efforts and company owned locations across multiple states.  

This signing brings the total of new franchise agreements inked to 31 since November 2021. The 31 new agreements, once opened, along with the nine recently opened or under construction locations would represent a Pokemoto division expansion of over 300% since its acquisition in May 2021.  

The new franchise agreement in Connecticut is focused on Hartford County; specifically the town of Berlin, CT. This will be the second Pokemoto eatery in Hartford County, the first being in downtown West Hartford, CT. The real estate team is focused on high traffic shopping plazas with a strong Millennial and Gen Z presence, a demographic focal point for the Hawaiian poke brand. 

“We believe Pokemoto franchising is our growth vehicle. When we added Pokemoto to our “healthier for you” portfolio of brands in May 2021, we had 13 open locations which quickly grew to 19 locations.  In addition, we have now signed 31 franchise agreements and 3 more company locations are under construction.  This brings our total open or under development store count to 53,” said Mike Roper, CEO of Muscle Maker, Inc. “Connecticut is where the Pokemoto brand started and we’re the largest poke player in the market with 10 open locations and 5 new agreements in place. We’re proud of our expansion efforts as we have been executing tirelessly against our franchising and growth plans since the acquisition. Just last week we announced expanding into Florida.  We’re thrilled to see our internal growth plans coming to fruition. We’ve recently ramped up our internal infrastructure by adding a franchise sales team and a training team to support the expansion. We are excited to be executing against our business model and leveraging our experienced management team in a way that compliments their business strengths. The brand has been pulling numerous franchise sales, driving levers such as partnering with franchise sales brokers like Franserve, engaging SEO and digital franchise marketing agencies and attending franchise expos to further our reach. In fact, the Pokemoto franchise sales team had a successful showing at the NJ/NY franchise expo last weekend and will be hosting a franchise discovery day on February 9 and 10 at the Stamford, CT location. We welcome any interested prospective franchisee partners to attend to learn about what makes Pokemoto different.”

Pokemoto currently has open locations in six states – Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia, and is coming soon to New York, Mississippi and Florida.

For more information on Pokemoto franchising or the upcoming discovery day in Stamford, CT visit www.pokemoto.com/franchise  

About Pokemoto 

Pokemoto has nineteen open locations in six states – Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland and Georgia with future franchise locations coming soon in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida and Mississippi. Pokemoto offers up chef-driven contemporary flavors with fresh delectable and healthy ingredients such as Atlantic salmon, Ahi tuna, fresh mango, roasted cashews and black caviar tobiko that appeals to foodies, health enthusiasts, and sushi-lovers everywhere. Guests can choose from a list of signature bowls or be bold and build their own unique combination of a base, protein and various toppings and nine different sauces. Vegetarian options are available, and the bowl combinations are virtually limitless. The colorful dishes and modern chic dining rooms provide an uplifting dining experience for guests of all ages. Customers can dine in-store or order online via third party delivery apps for contactless delivery.

About Muscle Maker, Inc.

Muscle Maker, Inc. is the parent company of “healthier for you” brands delivering high-quality healthy food options to consumers through traditional and non-traditional locations such as military bases, universities, ghost kitchens, delivery and direct-to-consumer ready-made meal prep options. Brands include Muscle Maker Grill, Pokemoto, Superfit Foods, Healthy Joe’s and multiple ghost kitchen brands such as Meal Plan AF, Wrap it up Wraps, Bowls Deep, Burger Joe’s, MMG Smoothies, Mr. Tea’s House of Boba, Gourmet Sandwich Co and Salad Vibes.  Our menus highlight healthier versions of traditional and non-traditional dishes and feature grass fed steak, lean turkey, chicken breast, Ahi tuna, salmon, shrimp, tofu and plant-based options. 

For more information on Muscle Maker, Inc., visit www.musclemakergrill.com, for more information on Pokemoto visit www.pokemoto.com or for more information on Superfit Foods visit www.superfitfoods.com. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may include “forward-looking statements” pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To the extent that the information presented in this press release discusses financial projections, information, or expectations about our business plans, results of operations, products or markets, or otherwise makes statements about future events, such statements are forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “should”, “may,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “expects,” “plans,” and “proposes.” Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in documents that we file from time to time with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are contained, and Muscle Maker, Inc does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements except as may be required by law.

Contact:

Muscle Maker Grill Marketing:
marketing@musclemakergrill.com