It takes strong kidneys to manage nearly a hundred channels across the country and more in the United States. Obviously, it is impossible to start as big. The steps are long before we get there and that is exactly what the MTY Group has managed to do. Here is the story of a Quebec success story that has a turnover exceeding $ 1 billion!

The restaurants Mikes, Valentine, Baton Rouge, Ben & Florentine, Casa Grecque, Giorgio, La Cremerie, Scores, Sushi Shop, Thai Zone, Old Duluth and a few others are all known stores in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. They have one important common point: these brands are all managed by a single entity, the MTY Group.

Before managing to control these channels, the MTY Group started very small. The founder, Mr. Stanley Ma, first opened a small restaurant in 1979 in Montreal, "The Paradise of the Pacific".

Over the next ten years, the MTY Group innovated by developing a fast-food Chinese food offer with the Tiki-Ming brand and Japanese delicacies with Sukiyaki. With these two chains, he becomes the leader in oriental fast food. We find them mainly in shopping centers.

At the dawn of the 1990s, it is the establishment of restaurants that are now known as Valentine, but are first known as Franx Supreme, specialists in hot dogs and hamburgers . This is a first foray into the field of North American cuisine.

Other concepts were developed by the Group in the 1990s, including paninis, pizzas and pasta, and at the same time it became a subsidiary of a company listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, Golden Sky Ventures.

In 1999, the Group made its first acquisition, Fontaine Santé. The development of new concepts is now more rare for the Group, which prefers to focus on acquisitions at this time.

Other purchases are made to integrate new segments in the first decade of the year 2000: Cremerie, Croissant Plus, Au Vieux Duluth Express, Thai Express, Sushi Shop, Tutti Frutti. It was also during this period that she made an incursion into Ontario with the Cultures restaurants and started to operate an Italian restaurant chain in the Middle East.

Quickly, it reaches 1,000 establishments in operation for the first time in its history.
Acquisitions continue after its listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MTY": Valentine and its distribution center, a food processing plant in the suburbs of Quebec City, Jus Jugo Juice, Mr Sub, Koryo Barbecue, Mr Souvlaki and Sushigo .

Meanwhile, it is developing markets in the UK, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
It is in May 2013 that it makes its largest acquisition: Extreme Pita and Mucho Burrito. The purchase of Thai Zone follows the same year and we can now find MTY products in grocery stores.

Never satisfied, the MTY Group continues shopping brands and makes big bites.

Today, we have no less than 7345 restaurants in its network, 181 of which are operated directly by the parent company and 7164 by the franchisees. More than half are in the United States.

And all this began 40 years ago by a small restaurant of Chinese and Polynesian cuisine!