Craveworthy Acquires Papa Gino's to Triple Wing It On! Footprint

[Craveworthy Brands has signed a definitive agreement to acquire New England Authentic Eats LLC, the Dedham, Massachusetts-based parent company of Papa Gino's Pizzeria — a move that adds more than 160 restaurants and approximately $160 million in annual revenue to its platform. The transaction, expected to close by December 31, 2026, pushes Craveworthy's total footprint to nearly 500 locations and brings its systemwide sales well past $300 million. For multi-unit operators and franchisors watching acquisition-led growth strategies, the mechanics here are worth unpacking.

The Co-Brand Play

The strategic engine of the deal is not the Papa Gino's acquisition itself — it is what Craveworthy plans to do with the real estate. By introducing Wing It On! at every Papa Gino's location across New England, the company expects to grow the wing brand from 45 to more than 145 restaurants without building a single standalone unit. That is a 222% expansion achieved through co-brand overlay rather than traditional franchise development — a capital-efficient playbook increasingly common in multi-concept restaurant groups managing construction costs and franchisee acquisition timelines. Papa Gino's, founded in East Boston in 1961 and known regionally as the "Official Pizza of New Englanders," retains its name, menu, and brand identity under the arrangement.

What This Signals for Operators

Gregg Majewski, CEO and founder of Craveworthy, framed the rationale plainly: "Pizza and wings belong together. But the menu is only the start. We win by taking care of our teams, delivering exceptional hospitality and giving operators the support to build stronger businesses." That language points to the platform infrastructure Craveworthy brings to legacy brands — combined purchasing power, integrated technology, and training systems — rather than simply a menu addition. For independent operators and regional chains considering acquisition as an exit or growth path, Craveworthy's stated cadence of additional acquisitions at comparable scale every six to nine months signals an active buyer in the market. Franchisors evaluating co-brand arrangements should note that this deal provides a live case study in using an acquired network's existing footprint to bypass the slowest phase of franchise development. The model also distributes the Wing It On! brand's supply chain and marketing costs across a larger base, which matters for unit-level economics.

From a procurement standpoint, the consolidation of 160-plus locations into Craveworthy's shared services platform creates immediate leverage on food costs, packaging contracts, and technology vendor negotiations — benefits that accrue to both legacy Papa Gino's franchisees and new Wing It On! operators entering the system. Operators assessing their own vendor relationships can use this deal as a benchmark: at what scale does a shared-services platform materially change purchasing outcomes? Craveworthy's trajectory suggests the answer is somewhere between 300 and 500 units. Keel Merchant Bank and Akerman LLP advised Craveworthy; Harrington Park Advisors and Vedder advised NEAE.

For more context on co-brand expansion strategies gaining traction in the QSR segment, see our coverage in Operator Intelligence and growth-driven M&A frameworks covered in the Growth Department.

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.