If you think chocolate is one of the major food groups, you’ll probably like this story. And, if you like the word “decadent” you’ll probably like it too.
On April 18, GODIVA, announced the opening of its first café in the Americas in the heart of New York City at 560 Lexington Avenue. Offering a new sweet and savory menu, specialty beverages and more, this café concept will be a launching pad for GODIVA to expand into new product categories beyond formal chocolate gifting into every day self-treats. The addition of these offerings and the launch of the café are all part of GODIVA’s larger global strategy in achieving a bold fivefold growth plan in the next six years.
GODIVA’s cafés have seen international success, with locations currently open in Japan, China, Belgium and the Middle East. The overall café concept has shifted with the New York City location featuring a refreshed design and a wide array of innovative new menu items that will shape and be replicated as part of the café expansion over the next few years. By the end of 2019, 10 more cafés are slated to open in New York State and the larger plan is to expand the model to 2,000 locations worldwide, with over 400 planned in the Americas.
Using GODIVA’s Belgian roots and innovative food trends as the inspiration, Executive Chef Chocolatier, Thierry Muret, has created a menu of new items including the Croiffle, the signature Chocolixir, a decadent cold blended drink, baked items like Belgian liege waffles and chocolate inspired cookies, sandwiches and salads.
Available exclusively at GODIVA cafés, the Croiffle is a buttery croissant pressed in a hot waffle iron. The new menu item is available in six flavors including Three Cheese filled with melted Gruyere, Havarti and Swiss; Bacon, Egg & Gouda; and GODIVA dark or milk chocolate – all for under $6 each. Additionally, the café menu offers decadent cookies inspired by GODIVA’s iconic chocolate pieces, featuring the white raspberry oatmeal cookie as well as the dark chocolate lava cake cookie. Other new menu items will include GODIVA Mocha and GODIVA affogato with soft serve and more.
“This is a very pivotal time for GODIVA as we transition to align with the ever-changing consumer behavior. We have an aggressive growth plan for the next six years which includes expanding our footprint of 2,000 cafés worldwide with a focus on growth in the Americas,” said Annie Young-Scrivner, CEO, GODIVA Chocolatier. “We are very excited, as the opening of the GODIVA café in New York City is a major milestone for us. We look forward to becoming a part of our consumer’s daily life – whether it be breakfast, a midday snack or a sweet afternoon treat and creating a destination that they want to visit in order to treat themselves beyond the usual holiday or special occasion.”
The Lexington Avenue café will officially open on Thursday, April 18th. Daily store operating hours will be 6 AM – 9 PM.