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Muscle Maker’s Pokemoto Division Expands into Florida Market, Signs Three New Franchise Agreements

SmallCaps Daily February 2, 2022

331 4 minutes read

Pokemoto has now signed 30 new franchise agreements since acquisition. Once open, new locations represent 300% growth rate.

LEAGUE CITY, TEX. (February 2, 2021) – Muscle Maker, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: GRIL) newest subsidiaryPokemoto, today announced it has signed three new franchise agreements in southwest Florida. These three new agreements bring the total of new franchise and development agreements signed to 30 since November 2021. These 30 new agreements, once opened, along with six new Pokemoto locations previously opened since the chain was acquired in May 2021, would represent a Pokemoto division growth rate of 300%. In this same timeframe, Muscle Maker, Inc also signed a 40-unit Muscle Maker Grill restaurant development agreement in Saudi Arabia fueling the company’s international pipeline.

The three new southwest Florida franchise agreements are focused on the Gulf Coast specifically in Lee and Collier counties. Both counties are comprised of cities that draw a strong tourist crowd in search of beaches, sunshine and fresh seafood options. The Pokemoto real estate team will concentrate on potential sites with heavy traffic and a strong Millennial and Gen-Z presence in prime areas of both markets. In addition, the company is preparing to open three additional corporate owned and operated Pokemoto locations – two in Miami and one in Jacksonville. These locations are currently in planning and construction stages.

“We’ve had the Florida market on our radar since acquiring the brand in May, 2021 and now our plans to enter the market are coming to fruition. Our fresh, delectable Hawaiian poke cuisine just makes sense for the Florida landscape. We now have three franchise agreements for southwest Florida in the pipeline and three corporate locations in the construction phase in the Miami and Jacksonville markets. The three newly signed franchise agreements and new corporate locations will bring our total store count to 52, quadrupling our footprint. We are proud of this growth from the Pokemoto brand considering we purchased the company with 13 locations eight months ago. We also inked the Muscle Maker Grill 40-unit restaurant development deal in Saudi Arabia in the same timeframe” said Mike Roper, CEO of Muscle Maker, Inc. “We’ve recently ramped up our internal franchising infrastructure to support our growth strategy and our real estate team has been assigned the task to continue to identify potential corporate locations in key markets to keep the momentum going.”

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

Recently, the company made an announcement that it is bolstering its internal infrastructure by bulking up its franchise sales and training departments along with rolling out its CRM “Customer Relationship Management” program using Franconnect, to support its expansion strategy. Since its acquisition, the company has made numerous announcements emphasizing its growth-oriented vision through franchising and opening new corporate locations. Pokemoto’s low cost of entry, ease of operations, exclusive territory options and multi-unit discounts make the brand an attractive opportunity for prospective franchisees.

For more information on Pokemoto franchising 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.