Business mogul Oprah Winfrey is now in the restaurant business with her recent investment in the Phoenix-based health-driven restaurant chain True Food Kitchen. Although the amount she invested in the company was not disclosed, it was also announced that she would be joining its board of directors and would act as a consultant.Winfrey discovered how different True Food Kitchen was when she dined at the restaurant with her friend Bob Greene, who is a health expert. After that, Winfrey sought out True Food's Kitchen's CEO Christine Barone and discussed a possible collaboration.
"I love bringing people together over a good meal," Winfrey said in a statement. "When I first dined at True Food Kitchen, I was so impressed with the team's passion for healthy eating and, of course, the delicious food, that I knew I wanted to be part of the company's future."
True Food Kitchen had 12 locations in 2016 when it has been spun-off from its founder Fox Restaurant Concepts and Barone joined the company. Since then, it has grown to 23 locations in 10 states. It has also been ranked as one of the top 10 emerging brands for 2018 by Fishbowl, the leading data, marketing, and analytics solutions provider to restaurants.
The investment Winfrey made is expected to help the company double its business in the next three years. Barone said, "My hope is that her passion and investment will continue to develop our growing brand to allow even more guests to experience a better way of eating."
Winfrey's investment in True Food Kitchen is very much in line with her health-conscious personal brand. She also recently bought over 6 million shares, or 10 percent stake, of weight loss franchise Weight Watchers for $43 million. Since then, shares of the company increased to 1,132 percent. She now owns about 8 percent of the company.
For more details about True Food Kitchen, visit www.truefoodkitchen.com
