What Restaurant Leaders Must Get Right About Integrating Acquired Brands When a restaurant group acquires another concept, it makes news headlines.
But behind closed doors, the integration process—aligning systems, culture, marketing, and long-term strategy without eroding what made the brand valuable in the first place—is where success or failure is determined
For Sergio Perez, that challenge is playing out in real time at Latitude Food Group (LFG), formed after &pizza acquired Tijuana Flats. A few months into his tenure as CMO, Perez is helping shape a platform designed to scale multiple brands while strengthening the fundamentals that matter most to operators and franchisees. “I think the overarching North Star has been to really build a platform for franchise growth and really make sure that we’re identifying culturally relevant, bold brands that have a unique food story and building a portfolio of like brands to be able to achieve that,” Perez says. Perez says a shared services model helps streamline overhead by consolidating functions like HR, IT, and supply chain, making the business more efficient.
Those savings can then be reinvested to strengthen unit-level economics and create a more attractive foundation for franchise growth. “Franchisees are not just looking to invest in hot brands, but they’re more importantly looking to invest in brands that are going to return on that investment,” Perez says. While the back end may consolidate, the front end cannot. One of the biggest risks in integration is overcorrecting and imposing uniformity on brands that succeed precisely because they are different.