European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Overview

Think Hospitality was appointed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to provide commercial and brand due diligence on a fast-growing, full-service casual dining group in the Western Balkans — one of the region's most dynamic parts of the café-restaurant market.

The brief

Working alongside the fund's managers, our role was to build a clear, investment-grade view of the business: interrogating the strength of its concept, testing the credibility of its growth strategy — including expansion and a move into centralised production — and validating the realism of future exit scenarios. Throughout, we combined insight from more mature markets with a grounded understanding of local dynamics.

What we did

Across a focused programme of work, we covered:

• Concept & brand — the longevity and replicability of the concept as a scalable, timeless model, with its strengths, weaknesses and opportunity areas.
• Market position & competitive landscape — global comparators and their growth journeys, customer segments and occasions, brand positioning and digital presence.
• Talent & leadership — management strength, central-support structure and future organisational needs.
• ESG — sustainability, sourcing and social-responsibility practices.
• Technology & innovation — the operating tech stack and third-party and delivery integration.
• Operational & financial review — unit economics and sector KPIs, the labour model, supply-chain integrity, and the case for investment in a central kitchen.
• Growth & expansion — expansion plans, franchise and format potential, daypart gaps, regional suitability and exit-strategy mapping.

Our approach

To ground international benchmarks in local reality, we paired our team with an on-the-ground local consultant — pairing global concept and investment perspective with market-level competitive, operational and compliance insight.

Outcome

The work gave the investment team an independent, commercially grounded read on the opportunity: the strength of the concept, the risks to the plan, and the credibility of the equity case.

Client and target details are held in confidence; this project is shared only at a high level, with the EBRD's involvement noted.