• Areas, a leading Spanish international company in food&beverage and travel retail, has been awarded a tender to manage part of the gastronomic offer at Dresden Central Station, in Germany.
• The company will operate 3 new concepts, and projects sales of €60 million throughout the 10-year concession period.
• The company will invest more than €2 million to transform restaurants, with a totally renewed offer that will come to light in early 2024, with concepts such as Burger King, the Italian franchise Eataly and a German gastronomic concept.
• With this award, Areas strengthens its position in train stations and consolidates its position in Germany, where Areas manages around 200 points of sale in airports, motorways, train stations and leisure centers.
Barcelona, April 11th, 2023
Areas, a leader in catering in the world of travel, with world headquarters in Barcelona, has signed an agreement with Deutsche Bahn, the main railway company in Germany that operates the central station of Dresden, one of the main stations in the country with a traffic of 60,000 daily travelers, to manage 3 new restoration points. Areas expects to generate sales of more than €60 million in the next 10 years of concession.
The Areas offer is based on the combination of renowned international brands and local concepts designed exclusively for this space. Specifically, the company will open an Eataly establishment, which makes its debut in Germany with an offer with typical Italian dishes such as pizza, pasta or foccacias and a coffee area; a Burger King, and finally, a restaurant with local German cuisine. The renovation of the gastronomic offer will take place throughout this year, it foresees an investment of more than €2 million and will open in early 2024.
As a global operator in the food&beverage and travel retail segment, Areas develops gastronomic concepts that adapt to all types of travelers. According to Oscar Vela, CEO of Areas, “This agreement at the Dresden station is key for the company, as it strengthens our position in the train stations in Germany”, and “our offer for travelers at this emblematic station is of high quality, and we are very pleased to open our first Eataly”.
Consolidation in Europe
One of the company’s growth levers for the coming years is diversification and international expansion. Currently, around 80% of the company’s sales come from outside Spain.
Germany is the country with the largest rail traffic in Europe, and it has good growth prospects.
Areas began operating in Germany in 2009. It currently has a team of 2,000 employees, and 198 establishments located in airports, travel plazas, train stations, and leisure centers. In 2012, in the motorway market, Areas acquired the AXXE brand in Germany, through which it operates 22 travel plazas. The company operates in leisure parks such as Center Parcs Bispinger Heide, Hochsauerland, Bostalsee, Nordseeküste, Eifel and Allgäu; It manages stores at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Potsdam Central Station, Leipzig Airport and the Alexa shopping center in Berlin.
Areas continues its growth and diversification strategy
Since the end of 2022 and in the first three months of the year, Areas has announced several outstanding projects at an international level. In the US, the company won the tender to manage three service areas on the West Virginia Highway, one of the main roads in the United States, with an expected volume of 272 million dollars. Also, recently, the company has won a new tender at the William P. Hobby airport in Houston, where it will operate 10 new catering establishments, with an expected turnover of around 470 million dollars, and in Spain, it has won the macro-tender for the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport. Likewise, the company has also acquired the motorway restoration business of the Sighor company in France.
About Areas
Established in 1968 in Barcelona (Spain), the company has become a global leader in the Travel Retail and Food & Beverage industry. Globally, the company operates in 87 airports, 236 service areas, and 80 train stations across 10 countries. Areas serves 350 million customers annually in 1,900 restaurants and stores located in major communication hubs, trade fairgrounds, and amusement parks.