How Kilwins is adapting to life under new owners

About this episode

This episode features Brian Britton discussing how Kilwins is adapting to new ownership and its growth strategies.

How is Kilwins adapting to life under new owners? This week’s episode of A Deeper Dive features Brian Britton, CEO of the treat chain Kilwins. Kilwins operates experiential chocolate and ice cream shops, mostly in tourist spots. It has picked up its growth in recent years and finished 2025 with 187 locations, according to data from Technomic. We wanted to talk to Brian to get a sense about how life has changed since the company was sold to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. The private-equity firm bought Kilwins in 2023. Brian talks about everything the chain has done since then, including a lot of work to update the brand. But we also talk about the business of selling chocolate and ice cream, the company’s expansion strategies and why the experiential nature of the brand is so vital these days. It’s a sweet podcast episode this week, so please check it out. Want more from Jonathan Maze? https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/profile/jonathan-maze https://www.tiktok.com/@jonathandmaze?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc (Tik-Tok @jonathandmaze) https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/article/week-restaurants Subscribe to RB newsletters…

People in this episode

Host: Restaurant Business Magazine

Guest: Brian Britton

Topics covered

• business adaptation
• private equity
• brand update
• expansion strategies
• experiential retail

Keywords

• Kilwins
• Brian Britton
• Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
• chocolate
• ice cream
• brand update
• expansion
• experiential shops

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kilwins, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, Technomic

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