Two more Taco Bells to open in Ireland by year end as new locations announced

Two more Taco Bells will open in Ireland before the end of the year as new locations have been announced.

Applegreen will open two new Taco Bell restaurants at Lusk Northbound on the M1 in Dublin and at Ballincollig in Cork before the end of this year, creating 60 new jobs.

Applegreen is embarking on a major refurbishment of both locations and will also add new M&S Food shop-in-shop outlets and new Crafted Kitchen & Deli operations at each site. A new Braeburn café will also be opening at the site in Lusk.

The upgrades, which are part of Applegreen’s €50 million plus investment plan in the Irish market for this year, will bring additional choice for consumers at both locations.

“We’re delighted to transform our existing sites at Lusk Northbound on the M1 and at Ballincollig in Cork with these new brands and significant in-store enhancements,” said Seamus Stapleton, Managing Director of Applegreen’s Republic of Ireland business.

“Our goal is to offer our customers passionate roadside hospitality by partnering with brands such as Taco Bell and Marks & Spencer, as well as enhancing our own brand offering with Braeburn Café, and Crafted. These enhancements are sure to delight our customers and provide an even better experience.”

Applegreen opened Ireland’s first Taco Bell restaurant at Dunshaughlin in Co Meath in mid-September and has plans to add further outlets across its Irish portfolio as part of a partnership with the US-based company.

Applegreen is also continuing to expand its highly successful partnership with M&S Food. With these two new upgrades, customers at both Lusk North and Ballincollig will now have access to more than 400 M&S products available in-store, including fresh flowers, convenient and tasty lunch and dinner options, sandwiches, and fresh fruit and salads. M&S Food favourites including Colin the Caterpillar cakes, Percy Pig sweets and freshly baked M&S cookies will also be available at both locations.

Both Applegreen outlets will also feature a new Click & Collect service for M&S Clothing and selected Home product ranges, providing customers with the convenience of ordering quality clothing, home and beauty essentials online at www.marksandspencer.com/ie and picking up their purchases for free instore.

With these new stores, Applegreen will now have 35 M&S Food shop-in-shop outlets and has plans to grow this number to more than 60 outlets in the medium term.

“Applegreen’s growing partnership with M&S supports our leading customer proposition in the Irish market and we are excited to continue investing in this first to market offer,” Mr Stapleton said.

Applegreen is also investing it is own branded offers at both Lusk North and Ballincollig. The new Crafted Kitchen & Deli will feature a range of new products and also existing customer favourites, such as chicken fillet rolls and breakfast rolls.

The new Braeburn Café at Lusk North will be the tenth standalone Braeburn Café within the Applegreen network, as the company continues to expand the footprint of its premium quality coffee offer.

The significant enhancements at Lusk North and Ballincollig are part of Applegreen’s €1 billion plan to expand its business in Ireland, the UK and the United States over the next five years.

Applegreen is one of Ireland’s leading retail hospitality brands. It opened its first service station in Ballyfermot in Dublin in 1992 and now operates almost 200 locations in the Irish market.

In Ireland, Applegreen is investing both in new locations and in upgrades to existing sites. It plans to further grow its partnerships with M&S Food, and with Taco Bell, and to continue expand its Braeburn Coffee brand - which is now available in more than 100 locations nationwide and at 10 Braeburn Cafés - and its new Crafted Kitchen & Deli offer.

Applegreen also has a very significant business overseas, with operations in Britain and the United States, and a total of more than 430 locations and more than 700 branded food offers across its global network.  Applegreen currently employs about 16,000 people across its business and has further plans for growth in all of its major markets. It had a turnover of almost €4 billion in its most recent annual accounts and its outlets serve about 180 million customers annually.

The company’s expansion plans are focused on acquiring and developing new sites in the markets in which it already operates, as well as upgrading and rebranding its existing locations.

In the US, Applegreen has 181 sites, and more than 300 branded food outlets. It recently started work on a new $70 million project to build four new highway service plazas in Colorado.

In the UK, Applegreen’s Welcome Break business operates 60 sites, including 36 motorway service areas, and 31 hotels. Applegreen plans to invest £400 million in its UK business, which employs more than 6,000 people, over the next five years.

Applegreen is also planning a major €85 million investment to further expand its EV charging networks in Ireland, the UK and the United States