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Fast casuals taking over the Middle East
April 12, 2013 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
For the past six months, it seems I've been writing nearly weekly stories about fast casual brands opening in the Middle East. From the better burger concepts like Smashburgerand Elevation Burger to pizza joints like Pizza Fusion and Top That!, the Middle East seems to be a hot bed for fast casual action.
"There's a lot of growth there around hotel and travel and as a result they are needing more restaurants to support the tourism," said Darren Tristiano, executive vice president of Technomic, a foodservice consulting firm. "As hotels are being built, restaurants are also going into those cities."
And if I needed more proof that the Middle East is the next go-to area for fast casuals, the International Franchising Forum is taking place there April 23-24. Dubai's Grosvenor House is hosting the two-day forum presented by World Franchise Associates. It will bring together Middle Eastern investors looking to franchise American and European restaurant and retail concepts.
Each day will include a series of presentations about international franchise development, as well as presentations from franchisors about their brands. Yousif Abdulghani, the head of McDonald's Middle East, will keynote the event and I hope to gain a few insights from him about how quick-service restaurants are striving to compete with fast casuals, but that's a topic for another blog.
In addition to all the sessions, franchisors at the Forum will meet with potential multi-unit and area developers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Yemen. By the time this event is over, the Middle East may boast even more American brands.
I'll be attending the forum to give an overview of the fast casual industry. Although the phrase "fast casual" is finally becoming mainstream as media biggies, including CNN and the Wall Street Journal, have started covering the industry and calling it by name, it's still a newer sector of the restaurant business compared to its QSR and casual dining counterparts.
Kit Brinkley, director of the World Franchise Associates, agreed, saying business owners in the Middle East are just starting to explore the franchise potential of fast casual restaurants.
"Our main source of business is from the home of franchising – the USA," he said. "Here, the Fast Casual phenomenon started, but we want to promote Fast Casual dining in our international consultancy to assist our clients build successful networks, hence the promotions of Fast Casual dining at our conferences and promotions and the IFF."
About Cherryh Cansler
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