An affiliate of Craveworthy Brands has signed a definitive agreement to acquire New England Authentic Eats LLC, the Dedham, Massachusetts-based parent of Papa Gino's Pizzeria, in a deal that would push Craveworthy's total portfolio to nearly 500 locations and its systemwide sales well past $460 million. Closing is targeted by Dec. 31, 2026, subject to customary conditions.
The Numbers
The transaction adds more than 160 Papa Gino's restaurants carrying approximately $160 million in annual revenue to Craveworthy's existing base of roughly 300 units across 20-plus concepts. Prior to the deal, Craveworthy reported more than $300 million in systemwide sales. The acquisition's most aggressive near-term implication is for Wing It On!: Craveworthy plans to introduce the Connecticut-born wing brand as a co-brand at every Papa Gino's location, tripling Wing It On!'s footprint from 45 restaurants to more than 145 — a unit-growth rate that would be difficult to replicate through traditional area development agreements alone.
Co-Brand Strategy
The co-brand model is central to Craveworthy's growth calculus here. Rather than sourcing new real estate, signing new leases, and building out standalone Wing It On! units, the company will leverage Papa Gino's existing restaurant infrastructure — kitchens, crews, and regional brand equity built since 1961 — to accelerate the wing concept's Northeast penetration. It's an asset-light expansion play within a brick-and-mortar portfolio, reducing per-unit development costs while pushing Wing It On! into markets where Papa Gino's already holds consumer loyalty. The pizza-and-wings daypart overlap is well-documented across casual and fast-casual segments; operators from Dave's Hot Chicken to Wingstop have benefited from game-day and family-meal bundling, and Papa Gino's established position as the self-described "Official Pizza of New Englanders" gives Wing It On! a pre-warmed guest base.
Gregg Majewski, CEO and founder of Craveworthy, framed the deal in operational terms. "Papa Gino's is a New England institution. People grew up on this pizza, and we're going to honor that," he said. "We protect what makes a brand special, then put our full platform behind it. With Wing It On!, we can build on that foundation and bring something new to the table." Majewski added that the shared platform — covering purchasing, technology, training, and franchise infrastructure — is the mechanism that makes the co-brand rollout executable at speed.
Acquisition Cadence
The NEAE deal signals an accelerating M&A cadence for Craveworthy. The company stated it plans to pursue additional acquisitions of comparable scale every six to nine months, with each transaction designed to expand both operational capabilities and franchisee development opportunities. That pace, if maintained, would put Craveworthy in a league alongside multi-brand consolidators such as Inspire Brands and FAT Brands in terms of acquisition frequency, though at a considerably smaller absolute scale. For franchisees and prospective area developers, the shared infrastructure pitch — combined purchasing power, integrated technology, and advanced training — mirrors the value proposition larger platforms have used to recruit operators away from single-brand systems. Keel Merchant Bank and Akerman LLP advised Craveworthy; Harrington Park Advisors and Vedder advised NEAE.
For context on how co-brand and multi-brand strategies are reshaping unit economics across the segment, see our coverage of franchise development trends and fast-casual M&A activity.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
