Balls & Glory

Name

Balls & Glory

Legal name

Raf bv

Website

https://ballsnglory.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fast-Casual Restaurant

NAICS

Mobile Food Services (722330), Caterers (722320), Meat Retailers (44524)

SIC

Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Pizza, Wings & Oven-Baked Prepared Foods (In-Store Concepts) (CRAHAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Premium Gourmet & Chef-Curated Meal Kits/Prepared Meals (CRAHAJAK), Event Catering (Weddings, Social, Private Parties) (THAFAIAB)

Keywords

• Fast casual dining
• Belgian comfort food
• Meatball restaurant chain
• Farm to table restaurant
• Stoemp and meatballs

Headquarters

HQ city

Ghent

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Dining (Eat-in): Full-service restaurant dining in Antwerp and Ghent locations with seasonal menus featuring stuffed meatballs and stoemp.
2. Delivery & Take-out: Delivery through Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Takeaway.com platforms. Click & collect online ordering. 20% discount on take-out orders.
3. Meal Kit & Webshop: Direct-to-consumer webshop for frozen meatballs and sauces. Partnership with Mealhero for smart steamer meal kits. Foodbag partnership for recipe ingredients.
4. Foodtruck & Events: Mobile foodtruck catering for private events, festivals, and parties. Booking available with custom menu composition and real-time pricing.
5. Franchise: Franchise model offered to local entrepreneurs with local network and hospitality experience. International expansion targeting Netherlands and Poland.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Balls & Glory operates a Belgian fast-casual restaurant chain centered on hand-rolled, oven-baked filled meatballs (pork, chicken, lamb, vegetarian, vegan) served with traditional stoemp. Distribution spans dine-in restaurants, a foodtruck, franchise locations, dark kitchens, an own-brand webshop for frozen products, and meal-kit partnerships with Mealhero and Foodbag.

Product overview

Balls & Glory is a Belgian fast-casual restaurant chain founded in 2012, specializing in hand-rolled, oven-baked filled meatballs (ballekes/gehaktballen) paired with traditional Belgian stoemp (mashed potatoes with vegetables). The core product portfolio includes pork meatballs from their own Zwalmbeekhoeve farm, chicken meatballs, lamb meatballs with seasonal fillings, vegetarian arancini, and vegan balls. Complementary offerings include Talloorkes (small bites), seasonal salads, vol-au-ballekes, and catering services. The business operates through multiple channels: dine-in restaurants in Ghent and Antwerp, a foodtruck for events and festivals, franchise locations, Kitchen-in-Kitchen satellite installations in partner venues, a webshop for nationwide frozen product delivery, and partnerships with Mealhero for meal kit delivery. Additional services include gift cards via ZenChef, click & collect ordering, and delivery through Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Takeaway.com. The company also hosts quarterly Balls & Glory Sessions networking events for the hospitality industry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Filled Meatballs (Gevulde Ballen) Hand-rolled, oven-baked meatballs in pork, chicken, lamb, vegetarian, and vegan varieties with savory fillings; available in 120g and 190g sizes and baked for 27 minutes. For dine-in, take-out, delivery, and home preparation.
• Stoemp Traditional Belgian mashed potatoes with vegetables (kale, carrots, celery, or seasonal produce), served alongside meatballs as part of the core menu.
• Discovery Box
• Foodtruck Catering Service
• Webshop (Nationwide Frozen Delivery) Direct-to-consumer online store for nationwide delivery of cold/frozen meatballs and sauces throughout Belgium; products cooked in oven at customer's convenience.
• Franchise Program Franchise opportunity for entrepreneurs to open a Balls & Glory restaurant, with requirements of horeca ambitions, hospitality passion, strong local network, and a minimum 30 hours weekly commitment.
• Gift Cards
• Mealhero Meal Kit Collaboration Frozen meal kit delivery via Mealhero's smart steamer; Balls & Glory retro meatball recipes (pork with three-cheese filling in tomato sauce, chicken with spinach pesto) delivered to homes.
• Dark Kitchen Concept Delivery-only dark kitchen concept enabling Balls & Glory to serve food through third-party delivery platforms without a dine-in footprint at the kitchen site.

Quantifiable outcome

• 27-minute oven baking process for meatballs

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MealherocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 September 2020Collaboration with Mealhero for smart steamer meal kits. Developed recipes using Balls & Glory's retro meatballs with Mealhero's steamer technology, enabling home meal preparation. Includes pork meatballs with three-cheese filling in tomato sauce and chicken meatballs with spinach pesto filling. Mealhero delivers to thousands of households in Belgium and Netherlands.
• Stephan Destrooper PâtissierminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSourdough bread supply partnership. Stephan Destrooper (grandson of Jules Destrooper) produces artisan sourdough bread for Balls & Glory restaurants, used with tomato soup and meatball dishes.
• Johan Noyen (noyen.be)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal pig farmer partnership supporting nose-to-tail philosophy. Provides pork from local farms for Balls & Glory meatballs with focus on animal welfare, local feed, and fair prices for farmers.
• FoodbagminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with Foodbag for meal kit ingredient delivery. Customers could order Christmas meatball recipe ingredients for home cooking during holiday season.
• DeliveroocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary food delivery partner for restaurant locations in Belgium. Handles warm/cold delivery of meatballs to consumers.
• Uber EatscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFood delivery partner for restaurant locations in Belgium.
• Takeaway.comcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFood delivery partner for restaurant locations in Belgium.
• Lunch GardenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKitchen-in-Kitchen pilot project - Balls & Glory operates a satellite kitchen inside Lunch Garden locations, bringing slow food to mainstream hospitality setting.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Marley Spoon: European meal kit operator active in Belgium. Comparable to Balls & Glory's meal kit/D2C delivery stream via Foodbag partnership; competing for the same home-cooking consumer occasions.
• Pincho: Belgian fast-casual concept with multiple city locations. Comparable Belgian fast-casual scale and target customer, with novel preparation/service model making it a partial-overlap emerging peer.

Broad incumbents

• HelloFresh: Global meal kit incumbent. Comparable to Balls & Glory's meal kit ambitions via Mealhero and Foodbag partnerships; relevant comparator for the D2C and meal kit revenue stream.
• Le Pain Quotidien: Belgian-origin fast-casual chain cited as a predecessor Mercuriusprijs winner. Comparable Belgian fast-casual heritage and brand positioning in the premium-casual category where Balls & Glory competes.
• Ellis Gourmet Burger: Belgian fast-casual chain focused on premium burgers. Comparable Belgian fast-casual scale, similar city-center real estate footprint, and shared customer base of urban food enthusiasts seeking elevated casual dining.
• Pizza Pasta Basta: Belgian casual dining chain with multiple locations across Belgium. Comparable Belgian mid-market restaurant footprint and dine-in/take-out/delivery mix, although core product (pizza/pasta) differs from meatballs.

Others

• Lunch Garden: Belgian family restaurant chain hosting the Kitchen-in-Kitchen pilot for Balls & Glory. Adjacent peer and distribution partner; comparable Belgian casual dining footprint and customer demographic.

Direct peers

• MEAT: Dutch-based restaurant concept specializing in meatballs and slow-cooked meat dishes, with dine-in and delivery. Conceptually closest direct peer to Balls & Glory in the Benelux market, sharing the meatball-centric fast-casual positioning.
• The Meatball Shop: New York-based fast-casual chain built entirely around meatballs with multiple proteins, sauces, and sides. Highly comparable operating model (counter-service, made-to-order meatball bowls) and product to Balls & Glory's core offering.

Regional players

• Jaimie's Italian: Chef-driven casual dining chain (Jamie Oliver) with concept-driven menu identity. Comparable chef-founder brand-led positioning, although primarily operating in the UK rather than Benelux.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ballsnglory
• Facebookfacebook.com/BallsnGlory
• Instagraminstagram.com/ballsnglory
• TikToktiktok.com/@ballsnglory
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/balls-&-glory

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Balls & Glory