The Poke Party Is Here To Stay

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The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Healthy, fresh food isn’t often synonymous with fast.

But the ever-growing popularity of poke bowls might change that soon.

The rice bowls topped with raw fish have been around for centuries but only recently came back into the spotlight for a variety of reasons: convenience, ease, and fitting nicely into the health-conscious trend of recent years. The poke foods market is projected to grow to $1.2 billion by 2024.

Cheap to produce, and easy to assemble, poke bowls are often referred to as the easier-to-eat sushi. Forbes even noted this uptick in “tactile” foods paved the way for poke bowls to take center stage. Playing on the bowls-over-plates trend as well, these aesthetically pleasing poke bowls have found their way onto various forms of social media. Typically, they cost around $10 to $15 and feature various toppings in addition to the traditional raw fish.

However, this is a very fragmented landscape. Unlike fast-food restaurants like Chik-Fil-A, Wendy’s Co. ((WEN), and McDonald’s Corp. ((MCD), there aren’t any major national players to point to for poke bowls. While many mom-and-pop shops exist, and high-end chefs have incorporated it into their restaurants, the top dogs still remain unnamed.

Pokémoto is one company vying for that spot. It originated in the New England region, which is already synonymous with seafood. Its first location was across from Yale University, with high foot traffic from college students and demand reportedly blew up. Featuring a build-your-own version of poke bowls, the menu has a variety of fresh and delicious options that have received raving reviews.

Currently, Pokémoto has 19 locations in 6 states but has also inked 6 franchise deals in the last 30 days. It also has restaurants near other colleges like Fairfield University, Franklin Pierce University, Quinnipac University, Southern Connecticut State College and the University of New Haven, capitalizing on their millenial and Generation Z audiences in the best way possible.

Because the method in serving poke bowls is very simple with minimal cooking and food preparation, this can mean a low cost of entry for franchise programs to flourish. In fact, you don’t even need conventional ovens or other pricier equipment for kitchens. Delivered in a linear fashion, it exemplifies the grab-and-go sector that continues to grow.

The fast-casual franchise hopes to continue to expand and consolidate the poke bowl space, which it believes shows no signs of slowing down. With its latest expansion into New York, Maryland and Mississippi, thanks to its new position as a division of Muscle Maker Inc. GRIL, its brand growth could be on the horizon.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.