Cape Town - Africa's leading pizza restaurant, Debonairs Pizza, is poised to open 15 outlets across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is offering potential investors a chance to apply for franchisee operations.
Debonairs made the announcement as it launched a new restaurant at the Dubai Marina at the weekend. Similar to most high class waterfront developments in the world's leading cities, the Dubai Marina is an urban centre on water.
This move makes the African continent not the only attraction to South African companies but opens up the entire Middle Eastern region too. Many South African companies plan to enter that market.
Others, like the construction giant Murray & Roberts Holdings [JSE:MUR], have already been in the Middle East for almost a decade.
Mandeep Singh Pujji, the managing director of Unitas Foods International, told arabianbusiness.com that two more restaurants would be opened in Dubai’s Al Barsha and Arabian Ranches areas at the end of this year.
Unitas Foods International is the master franchisee licence holder for Debonairs Pizza.
“Within the next five years there’d be at least 15 more across the country," arabianbusiness.com quoted Pujji as saying.
Pujji said Debonairs also wanted also to increase the pizza brand to “other GCC” countries - the Gulf Cooperation Council, whose member states include Saudi, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait - and Asia.
"Having seen solid growth, success and profits within a quick time period, we are encouraged to offer more locations with different concepts therefore reaching a wider customer base," he was quoted as saying.
"We have been receiving queries from local businesses interested in taking the brand to various locations and thus starting March 2013, we are offering potential investors an opportunity to apply for franchisee operations."
Debonairs Pizza presently has more than 500 stores over the globe.
- Fin24
Debonairs made the announcement as it launched a new restaurant at the Dubai Marina at the weekend. Similar to most high class waterfront developments in the world's leading cities, the Dubai Marina is an urban centre on water.
This move makes the African continent not the only attraction to South African companies but opens up the entire Middle Eastern region too. Many South African companies plan to enter that market.
Others, like the construction giant Murray & Roberts Holdings [JSE:MUR], have already been in the Middle East for almost a decade.
Mandeep Singh Pujji, the managing director of Unitas Foods International, told arabianbusiness.com that two more restaurants would be opened in Dubai’s Al Barsha and Arabian Ranches areas at the end of this year.
Unitas Foods International is the master franchisee licence holder for Debonairs Pizza.
“Within the next five years there’d be at least 15 more across the country," arabianbusiness.com quoted Pujji as saying.
Pujji said Debonairs also wanted also to increase the pizza brand to “other GCC” countries - the Gulf Cooperation Council, whose member states include Saudi, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait - and Asia.
"Having seen solid growth, success and profits within a quick time period, we are encouraged to offer more locations with different concepts therefore reaching a wider customer base," he was quoted as saying.
"We have been receiving queries from local businesses interested in taking the brand to various locations and thus starting March 2013, we are offering potential investors an opportunity to apply for franchisee operations."
Debonairs Pizza presently has more than 500 stores over the globe.
- Fin24