News

UAE falafel chain expanding to North America and Europe

July 18, 2014

Just Falafel, a 52-unit chain based in the United Arab Emirates, opened its first North American restaurants in June, and hopes to open 900 more throughout Europe and North America in the years to come, according to an AP story posted on ABCNews.com.

The company's enthusiastic British-Lebanese CEO, Fadi Malas, sees a big potential market for the company's wraps and other Mediterranean offerings, such as hummus and tzatziki, a yoghurt and cucumber dip. He says he's not worried about consumers being scared off by a food many have never heard of, let alone tried.

"It would be crazy to think that we'd all be eating sushi so casually 20 years ago," he said during an interview in one of his Dubai branches. "I think it will be silly not to assume that everybody will be consuming falafel sometime down the road, you know, as we consume sushi and everything else."

The company has deals to open more franchises in New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Texas and Los Angeles.