What Best Ugly Bagels does

Best Ugly Bagels is a privately held New Zealand specialty food retailer operating Montreal-style bagel shops. Founded in 2013 by Chef Al Brown, who trained at Saint Viateur of Montreal, the company hand-rolls and wood-fire authentic Montreal-style bagels that are lighter, chewier, and slightly sweeter than the New York variety. The company operates eight physical locations across Auckland and Wellington, including high-traffic sites at Auckland Airport (domestic and international airside) and Wellington Airport, alongside urban storefronts in City Works Depot, Newmarket, Commercial Bay, Swan Lane, and Featherston Street.

The core product line consists of plain, sesame, and cinnamon and raisin bagels, sliced and toasted to order, paired with a curated set of toppings sourced exclusively from New Zealand artisan producers, including Good Joe Coffee, Fix & Fogg peanut butter, Regal Marlborough salmon, Harrington's pastrami, Zany Zeus cheeses, Village Press olive oils, and Marsh's clover honey. Mauri supplies the flour used in production. The business also offers an office catering service through EatFirst in both Auckland and Wellington, and a wholesale enquiry channel.

Revenue is generated through walk-in retail sales at physical stores, transaction-fee delivery via UberEats, catering bookings for corporate clients, franchise fees (with the Commercial Bay Auckland location listed as the first franchise site on NZ Bizbuysell and Trademe), and a direct online shop linked through founder Al Brown's separate e-commerce site. Distribution is exclusively domestic within New Zealand's North Island, and the company carries no external venture capital or private equity backing, remaining under founder ownership and control.

Name

Best Ugly Bagels

Legal name

Best Ugly Bagels

Website

https://bestugly.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisan Bakery

NAICS

Baked Goods Retailers (445291)

SIC

Bakery Products (2050)

akta.pro primary industry

Cafe-Bakeries (Bakery + Coffee/Foodservice) (THAFAFAG)

Keywords

• Montreal-style bagels
• Artisan bakery
• Specialty food retail
• Office catering
• Bagel franchise

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Retail Bagel Sales: Walk-in and online ordering of freshly made Montreal-style bagels and toppings at multiple physical locations across Auckland and Wellington.
2. Delivery (UberEats): On-demand food delivery through UberEats platform at multiple locations.
3. Catering: Corporate and event catering services for office groups in Auckland and Wellington.
4. Franchise Fees: Revenue from franchising the Best Ugly Bagels brand and model to new operators, with Commercial Bay listed as the first franchise location.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Best Ugly Bagels operates a network of Montreal-style bagel retail shops in New Zealand, selling hand-rolled, wood-fired bagels (plain, sesame, cinnamon and raisin) sliced, toasted, and served with artisan NZ-sourced toppings. The offering is paired with in-store Good Joe Coffee, corporate catering via EatFirst, on-demand delivery via UberEats, and a franchise program to extend the brand.

Product overview

Best Ugly Bagels operates a network of retail bagel shops in New Zealand, offering a single unified product line centered on handmade Montreal-style bagels. The core product is the bagel itself — wood-fired, hand-rolled, and served toasted with toppings sourced from New Zealand producers. Coffee (Good Joe Coffee) and catering services are complementary add-ons. The company has 5 locations across Auckland and Wellington, including airport sites, and offers a franchise model. No technology platform, SaaS product, or API is offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Montreal-Style Handmade Bagels Authentic Montreal-style bagels hand-rolled and wood-fired, lighter and chewier than New York bagels, served sliced and toasted with toppings from New Zealand artisan producers; available plain, sesame, and cinnamon and raisin for walk-in, online ordering, and UberEats delivery customers across Auckland and Wellington.
• Good Joe Coffee Artisan coffee served alongside bagels at Best Ugly Bagels locations, supplied by Auckland-based Good Joe Coffee roastery as the in-store coffee offering.
• Office and Event Catering Service Office and event catering service offering bagel platters and catering menus to businesses in Auckland and Wellington, ordered via the EatFirst platform and direct email enquiries.
• Best Ugly Bagels Franchise Program Franchise program granting licensees the right to operate a Best Ugly Bagels location using the brand, Montreal-style bagel technique, and bundled Good Joe Coffee offering; first franchise location is Commercial Bay in Auckland.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UberEatscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOn-demand food delivery partner enabling Best Ugly Bagels to offer delivery from multiple Auckland and Wellington locations including City Works Depot, Swan Lane Wellington, Newmarket, Featherston Street, and Commercial Bay.
• EatFirst (Office Catering)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOffice catering platform partner for Auckland and Wellington corporate catering orders.
• Saint Viateur of MontrealcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpiritual home and training institution of the Montreal bagel. Al Brown and his team trained at Saint Viateur of Montreal to learn the exact hand-rolled, wood-fired bagel technique. Saint Viateur produces over 3,000 dozen bagels per day across five shops.
• Good Joe CoffeecoreOthersCoffee partner supplying Good Joe Coffee alongside Best Ugly Bagels offerings in-store.
• Marsh's Clover HoneyminorOthersSupplier of Clover Honey from Ettrick Central Otago, New Zealand.
• Fix & FoggminorOthersWellington-based artisan peanut butter brand used as a bagel topping.
• Regal MarlboroughminorOthersSupplier of King Salmon, Salmon Gravlax using Best Ugly Bagels' own curing recipe.
• Harrington's SmallgoodsminorOthersHawkes Bay supplier of Pastrami using Best Ugly Bagels' own recipe.
• Mauri New ZealandcoreOthersSupplier of flour used in Best Ugly Bagels' production.
• Zany ZeusminorOthersWellington-based supplier of Cream Cheese, Feta, and Ricotta.
• Village PressminorOthersHawke's Bay and Al Brown olive oils supplier used as toppings.
• Produce CompanyminorOthersAuckland-based produce supplier for Best Ugly Bagels.
• AvrokominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFriends in New York who coined the name 'Best Ugly' for the bagels — describing the bagels as not perfect circles, but perfectly tasty.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bruegger's Bagels: Multi-unit bagel chain emphasizing hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels. Comparable in chain-store bagel retail model, though more standardized and broader in geographic reach than Best Ugly Bagels' New Zealand artisan positioning.
• Einstein Bros Bagels: Largest bagel-specialty chain in the United States with hundreds of locations. Comparable in retail bagel format and broad menu approach, though operating at vastly greater scale and as a broader incumbent rather than a craft specialist.
• Le Pain Quotidien: Global café-bakery chain serving artisan bread and pastries with coffee in a casual-dining format. Comparable as a café-bakery retail concept pairing baked goods with coffee — a model Best Ugly Bagels replicates in a narrower bagel-focused format.
• Panera Bread: Major US café-bakery chain serving artisan breads, bagels, and sandwiches. Comparable as a café-bakery retail model pairing bakery products with coffee and catering, though operating at materially larger scale.
• Baker's Delight: Australia and New Zealand bakery franchise chain with hundreds of stores. Comparable as a multi-location retail bakery brand in the ANZ region, though focused on bread rather than Montreal-style bagels.

Regional players

• The Coffee Club: Large New Zealand café chain with multiple locations across Auckland and Wellington. Competes for the same breakfast and daytime café occasions, though with a broader all-day menu rather than a bagel specialty.

Direct peers

• Fairmount Bagel: Long-established Montreal bagel maker producing hand-rolled, wood-fired bagels. Directly comparable product (Montreal-style bagel) with flagship retail stores, mirroring Best Ugly Bagels' craft-driven, single-product format.
• Saint Viateur Bagel Shop: Iconic Montreal bagel institution that served as the direct training ground for Best Ugly Bagels. Operates 5 shops producing over 3,000 dozen wood-fired bagels per day using the same hand-rolled technique, making it the most direct comparable in terms of product and craft methodology.

Emerging players

• Better Bagel Club: Smaller specialty bagel brand. Comparable as a niche, brand-led bagel operator prioritizing craft and brand storytelling, similar to Best Ugly Bagels' positioning approach.
• St. Viateur Bagel (NYC location): International expansion footprint of Saint Viateur Bagel in New York. Comparable as a craft Montreal-style bagel operator that has expanded beyond its original home market, illustrating a potential growth trajectory for Best Ugly Bagels.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bestuglybagels
• Instagraminstagram.com/bestuglybagels
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/best-ugly-bagels

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Best Ugly Bagels