ROMANIA: Alfredo Seafood, 200,000 euros investment in a restaurant | Progresiv
Mihai Cristian Darmanescu, founder of Alfredo Seafood, one of the most important local brands of fish and seafood, invested 200,000 euros in opening a gourmet bistro in the Floreasca area. BistroMar is a fish and seafood specialty restaurant with dishes prepared exclusively with Alfredo Seafood products and functions at the same time as a grocery store on the raw and packaged product side. 
The restaurant is located in the Capital, within Floreasca Square and has an area of 50 square meters in the interior and a terrace of 30 square meters. Among the star specialties on the shelf are the fresh red tuna, the wild royal bream, the sea bass, dentex, the scorpionfish, the dover sole, langoustine, St. Jacques scallops but also common fish such as cod, hake, macro and herring.
"The opening of BistroMar is a soul project I have been thinking about for 4 years. After 15 years of experience in choosing and processing the best fish and seafood varieties, this step seemed natural to me. We thought BistroMar as a blend between a gourmet bistro and a fish shop where we sell both bulk and packaged products", said Mihai Cristian Darmanescu, General Manager BistroMar and founder of Alfredo Seafood.
BistroMar owners have proposed that by the end of 2019 they will reach sales of 100,000 euros per month and one million euros per year at the end of the first two years of operation. In addition, in the future, Cristian Darmanescu and Diana Darmanescu take into account the extension of the concept into a franchise system.
Alfredo Seafood is one of the most important brands in Romania, under whose name fish and seafood products are imported and distributed. The brand was created by Mihai Cristian Darmanescu and launched in 2013. The company owns two factories in Constanta and Bucharest. Alfredo Seafood products are distributed in the most important hypermarkets and supermarkets in the country, such as Kaufland, Carrefour, Mega Image, Metro, Cora, Profi, Penny Market etc., as well as over 3,000 traditional trade stores. The manufacturer ended 2016 business with 16 million euros, up by 45% over the previous year.
