The decision comes against the background of increasing pressures in the HoReCa market, generated by the increase in the costs of raw materials, labor and taxes, but also by the change in consumer behavior.
Before being presented here, the information was announced long before on Profit Insider
The brand will continue in a smaller format, focused on takeaway and delivery, without classic restaurants, and expansion plans are prudent, Liviu Moreanu announces in a discussion with Profit.ro.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Marinescu made her exit from the company.
The Avocadoo brand debuted in malls, the first unit being opened in Baneasa Shopping Cityfollowed by the restaurant in AFI Cotroceni, inaugurated during the pandemic, in a difficult context for food retail, when shopping centers were closed.
Later, Avocadoo also opened a street location, on Postelniciu Street, initially as a delivery point, which later became a restaurant.
In the fall of 2024, the restaurant in AFI Mall was closed, and in recent months the location in Băneasa, as well as the one on the street, were also closed, the latter remaining active only as a kitchen for deliveries.
“At the moment we are still working on delivery and we are going to open some locations, some smaller work points, with smaller staff. Because the costs have increased a lot and it is no longer profitable to keep large mall locations”, Liviu Moreanu, co-founder of Avocadoo, told Profit.ro.
Currently, however, none of Avocadoo’s locations are open to customers, including the street location, which operates solely as a manufacturing point for deliveries.
“No, that one is no longer open for customers either, but in that street location we still have the kitchen for deliveries,” Moreanu said.
The founder explains that the restructuring was inevitable, in the context in which the operating model had become unsustainable. Acquisition costs have increased significantly compared to when the business was launched, and the personnel structure required for large restaurants could no longer be supported.
“At the moment it was a period of restructuring, because we really couldn’t cope anymore. When we opened Avocadoo, the purchase prices were 300% lower. I mean, things changed. We could no longer work with 14 people per location. A bit more complicated,” he says.
However, the Avocadoo brand will continue to exist, in a form adapted to the new market realities.
“I didn’t think about selling it, because I still think something can be done. And I have no reason to sell it. The brand will continue to work,” emphasizes the co-founder.
The development strategy aims to open smaller units, exclusively for takeaway, without table service areas, following a model similar to those in airports, where products are prepared in a single point and distributed to several locations.
“No, it will no longer be a restaurant, it will only be a takeaway. Exactly like the locations in the airport. Very simple, and pokeballs, and salads, like the ones at Fru-Fru. That’s exactly the concept,” explains Liviu Moreanu.
The plans for 2026 are cautious, and the expansion will take place exclusively in Bucharest.
“We’re currently looking for physical locations and working on a project. I can’t give you more details right now,” he says, estimating a single location opening in 2026.
“I think we’ll open one in 2026. And after that we’ll open one every two years. I mean, we’re not in a hurry. The brand is quite solid on the market. It’s still doing very well in terms of deliveries. The restructuring has worked and we want to take it easy,” adds Liviu Moreanu.
Liviu Moreanu rules out an accelerated expansion or attracting an investor, considering that the HoReCa industry is going through a period of survival.
“HoReCa is in a period of survival. We don’t accelerate anything anymore. It doesn’t accelerate during this period. During this period, you take your foot off the accelerator. You put your foot on the brake,” he says.
He draws attention to the fiscal pressure and high costs generated by dependence on imports.
“It’s a difficult time for HoReCa. We’re not complaining, but we’re aware of what’s happening. The purchase cost is very high. We only work with imported products. You automatically have the importer’s price, the exporter’s price, the transport. We don’t raise beef, we don’t have salmon, sea bream, or anything at all. We have very high taxes,” says Moreanu, comparing the situation in Romania with other European markets.
In this context, the business operates exclusively on deliveries, a segment that remains stable, although not without challenges.
“It’s going ok. It can be even better, but it’s going ok”, says the founder, emphasizing that the restructuring had positive effects.
He believes that small and family restaurants are the most affected by the current market conditions and warns that the difficulties are not isolated.
“Right now I have to see exactly what direction I have to take and what’s the best. And I think this is the best. It’s a very difficult time. I mean, it seems to me that we have to come together and put pressure to lower taxes because it’s almost impossible to survive. And it’s exactly the small family restaurants that have been affected the most. The big ones are still OK and the small ones are going to suffer even more. And it’s not normal because the costs are very big
They also work with the Nepalese, no one rents you locations anymore, no one gives you apartments for Nepalese anymore. It’s a very difficult situation and those who should be talking about it are not. And believe me, Avocadoo is a very cool brand and if a brand like Avocadoo suffers, it means that there are many others as well”, draws Liviu Moreanu’s attention.
In parallel with the operational changes, Avocadoo’s shareholding structure has changed. The co-founder Sabrina Marinescu left the business, and currently the shareholders are Liviu Moreanu and Dobrica Vlad-Teodor, each with 50%.
Contacted by Profit.ro, Sabrina Marinescu refused to comment on the exit.
“I don’t want to comment on the subject,” she said.
Liviu Moreanu has over a decade of experience in HoReCa and also owns other restaurants, such as Mosh Bar and Dinner and Argentine Steak & Sushi, in Herăstrău and Băneasa Shopping City.
Profit.ro previously wrote about Avocadoo’s restructuring and the brand’s development plans, in an article published after the pandemic, in which Sabrina Marinescu detailed the business reorganization and franchising and international expansion scenarios.