(Cincinnati, Ohio)  February 14, 2013 – Fazoli’s Restaurants and The Valen Group come together to create a range of refrigerated, Italian inspired entrees and sides available at grocery stores. The Valen Group, a leading growth strategy consulting and strategic brand licensing firm specializing in food and beverage partnerships, announced today that after a comprehensive strategic review of brand extension opportunities, they assisted Fazoli’s Restaurants in identifying a manufacturing partner and negotiated a license agreement with Retail Innovations to market branded Italian entrees and sides in retail grocery. 
“Fazoli’s is uniquely positioned to provide innovation and excitement to this category.  We identified refrigerated entrees and sides as an area where the brand could differentiate from competitive products and offer the consumer convenient, Italian at-home meals. We believe this brand can win with these restaurant-quality products in retail grocery,” said Janna Markle, Vice President Licensing, The Valen Group.
“This strategy will drive top-line revenue and keep consumers thinking about Fazoli’s even when they are not eating out,” said Carl T. Howard, Fazoli’s president and CEO. “Having dramatically improved the variety and quality of our restaurant food puts us in a great position to extend the Fazoli’s brand to the retail market.”
The products are currently available in various grocery chains including: Schnuck’s, Shop ‘n Save, Dierbergs, A & P, Marsh Foods, Meijer, and will be rolled out to other national retailers in the next few months.  The products can be found in the refrigerated meat section of the grocery store.
For questions contact:
Janna Markle
janna.markle@valengroup.com
513-842-6318