the Happy Snacks team, 50th anniversary;

Happy Snacks, the founder of the famous Wimpy burger, is this year celebrating 50 years of business.

In 1968, Luxembourg discovered the trend of fast food with the opening of the Wimpy restaurant on Place de Paris in Luxembourg-ville; behind this flagship gastronomic attraction of the time lies the Happy Snacks group.

With 260 employees and 8 restaurants under management, the family business has become, within half a century, the leader in fast food restaurants in Luxembourg. It now has a turnover of €17.7 million.

A model from the United States

The story begins with Jean-Marie Scholer, father of Antoine Scholer, the main shareholder today: "It was my father, back from the United States, who decided to implement the first fast food in Luxembourg. He told himself that if it worked in France, then it would work at home. My grandfather also believed it because the basic capital came from Monopols S.A." This is how Happy Snacks was born and the Wimpy restaurant was born on Place de Paris.

Unexpected success

Very quickly, this first restaurant experienced a great success and gave birth to a 2nd Wimpy, on Place d'Armes, the following year. "I remember that at the time, we ate his hamburger with cutlery. It was unthinkable to do otherwise" said Mr. Scholer. After having ventured into high gastronomy, the founder returned to his origins and opened his first Quick restaurant, on Place d'Armes in 1983. In 1987, it was the turn of Pizza Hut to make its appearance in the Luxembourg landscape before Chi-Chi's (Mexican) in 1989.

A true visionary

In 17 years, not less than 10 Happy Snacks restaurants have opened across the Grand Duchy. "My father revolutionised the world of gastronomy in Luxembourg. He quickly understood what would be the restaurant trends of tomorrow. He was able to offer an alternative to traditional restaurants and other high-end establishments, which is why Happy Snacks quickly became successful" explained the heir.

A family story

In 2001 Jean-Marie Scholer died, leaving behind a successful business. His two sons Antoine & Pierre decide to take the business back to make it evolve in the future. "It seemed unthinkable to sell this company to foreign investors, which is intimately linked to our family history. Thus, in keeping with our father's vision, in 2007 we acquired the EXKi franchise, focused on the self-service sale of fresh and natural products, and sold the Quick restaurants"; continued Mr. Scholer.

An international ambition

Today, with 4 Pizza Hut and 4 EXKi under his belt in Luxembourg, Happy Snacks sees further afield and aims to establish itself beyond the borders. "My son, Alex, is responsible for the development of the EXKI franchise in Germany. We opened a 1st EXKi in Cologne in November 2018 and we aim to open another 15 in the next 8 years. However, we do not forget where we come from and we are also developing the local market with, in particular, a future Pizza Hut in Rodange next May" concluded Mr. Scholer.