Pür & Simple has grown from a Montreal breakfast concept to a multi-location restaurant group serving local communities
With 69 locations across Canada and the US, Pür & Simple Restaurants (Pür & Simple) is truly living up to its name as a breakfast specialist. Adding a fresh, modern and imaginative take on morning meals, the breakfast restaurant chain is dedicated to reinventing daytime dining with superior customer service and nutritious ingredients, while continuously promoting community wellbeing and local opportunities.
Opening a new location every month last year, Pür & Simple launched its first US location in San Antonio, Texas, and has more significant launches planned this year. Co-founder and President Ritou Maloni describes this expansion as challenging yet exciting. “Entering a new market is never easy,” she tells Food Chain. “It’s had its learnings though and we’ve invested a lot in support and travel. 2025 was a fun year! We’ve learnt a lot and we’re very excited to continue our US expansion.”
Ritou explains the Pür & Simple expansion strategy centers on matching franchise partners to demographics, geography and real estate, while ensuring it’s affordable and the unit economics make sense. Further US growth opportunities include Charlotte, North Carolina, alongside Miami Lakes and multiple Orlando locations. “We’re incredibly motivated by the US expansion, but we want to make certain we acquire the right real estate – we’d rather grow correctly than just grow quickly. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race,” Ritou continues, emphasizing a focus on quality over speed. Canadian expansion also continues with new locations opening in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Sydney, Nova Scotia, with the company looking at additional sites in British Columbia and Alberta.
Enhancing customer experience
Not only is the chain growing successfully through geographic expansion, Pür & Simple differentiates through menu diversity – enabling it to stand out positively from competitors. “We have menu offerings you won’t find on other breakfast menus, including panko breaded French toast,” states Ritou. “We put an original twist on our menu items, such as our popular mimosas – customers can opt for freshly squeezed orange juice with sparkling wine or try a tropical guava mimosa. We have an array of coffee options, from matcha lattes to iced Americanos, as well as smoothies and mocktails, which are trending well.”
In February, the company launched a new menu concentrated on presenting even healthier options, including vegan avocado toast and a keto dish. “I think we set ourselves apart with ingredients, flavor profiles and plate presentations,” Ritou shares. “Our goal is to literally wow the socks off our guests and make sure they want to come back again. The latest store design is modern, inviting, and vibey. Hospitality is the name of the game – we really strive to make our guests feel like they’re the most important people in the world. They’re like celebrities to us.”
Innovative menu development involves extensive travel for Ritou and her partner, CEO Derek Massad, with a commitment to research and development requiring the pair to visit different parts of the US, Canada, and Europe, to test various dishes. The company also introduces limited time offers (LTOs) four times per year. “We have LTO items that involve thinking outside the box and trying different flavor profiles,” Ritou notes. “We recently launched a Taste of Italy LTO with prosciutto – we travel, test, read, and research, but we collaborate strongly as a team. Our test center allows us to trial products along the way before we launch anything chain-wide.”
Travel is also integral for cementing supply chain relationships. “This business is about relationships,” Ritou adds. “One of our vendors has an annual Sysco symposium where I meet with all the vendor partners and retailers. We carry out ideation sessions with our Director of Culinary and VP of Operations to explore the new products and discover how flavor profiles can work together. It’s important to be available, maintain vendor contact and get to know our reps. That knowledge really helps maximize their value for our brand.”
Championing people
At Pür & Simple, company culture centers largely on serving others. “We take immense pride in our level of staff retention and the fact that people enjoy working with us,” Ritou states. “Loyalty is incredibly important to us and our core value of serving others shapes every decision we make. We always consider what is best for our franchise partners. I think about how they can become more profitable, become more rooted in their community and how we can enable them to become stronger leaders. Everything reflects how they offer our product and provide service to our guests, so we want to make our partners feel as though they’re part of a bigger unit. With a fundamental belief in service to others, I believe we over-service our franchise partners so they can over-service our guests.”
Moreover, the breakfast industry offers unique workforce advantages, as Ritou elaborates: “Breakfast is not like other industries – it’s a wonderful niche and consequently we have a great number of women working for us, due to the hours of operation; 7am to 3pm. You basically own your day. For example, our workforce can still go home and pick up their children after school. I find that sets us apart for the hospitality sector and it always warms my heart when I see such strong women who work so hard. It’s quite a relentless industry because we’re constantly ‘on’ and giving a piece of ourselves every day. Our franchise partners are doing such a brilliant job of finding the right people to promote the brand. That’s one of our keys to our success.”
Community commitment
Priorities for 2026 include continuing same-store sales growth, which Ritou reveals has been five percent and higher over the past five years. “We’re looking at achieving that again this year, which is huge considering the instability of what is happening in the world,” concludes Ritou. “We’re aiming to spend money on marketing the restaurants effectively too; not just on a national level but focusing on each individual community. We are highly involved in each of those communities, whether it’s a golf tournament, charity or sports team – we provide that service to our franchise partners in getting their name out there on a local level. That’s a huge priority for us.”
From Montreal to San Antonio, French Toast Crisp to Virgin Caesars, and global conferences to local sporting events, Pür & Simple demonstrates that serving others – franchise partners, employees and customers – drives sustainable growth in the breakfast restaurant industry.