An official of Al Jassim Group receives an award from Mike Archer (fourth left), President of Applebee’s at the Villaggio branch yesterday. (Shaival Dalal)
DOHA: The US-based fast food ‘Neighbourhood Grill and Bar’ chain of restaurants, Applebee’s, has announced its expansion plans in Qatar. The company is set to open more than five new restaurants which will be located in different parts of the country, including in some upcoming shopping malls and football stadiums, senior official of the Applebee’s-Qatar said here yesterday.
“Currently we have six restaurants in Qatar, and all of them have witnessed good growth since their openings. As a result we are negotiating with senior management of some malls and football stadiums to open more restaurants in the northern part of the country,” said Ganesh Sharma, General Manager, Foodvest, part of Al Jassim Group, which owns all the Applebee’s outlets in Qatar.
Sharma was speaking to reporters at a meeting held along with the senior management of Applebee’s International Inc, Mike Archer, President, and Gary Moore, Regional General Manager, who were here as part of their tour of the Middle East region, to explore future growth opportunities.
“Five years ago I acquired Applebee’s to create a company called ‘Dine Equity’ which is the largest casual dining restaurants in the world. Today we have 2,016 restaurants in more than 16 countries, but most of the branches (1, 860) are located in the US. The objective of my trip to Qatar and other countries in the region is to decide the future path of growth, like where can we go from here,” added Archer.
The company recently opened 33 new restaurants in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, which is the primary market of Applebee’s foreign business.
“Mexico and GCC are some of our important markets outside the US. The region is growing very fast, so is our business. We also visited Saudi Arabia and have plans to go to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the next couple of days to set some strategic planning… We are the number one brand in the segment, and striving to develop it further to maintain our current position,” said Moore.
“Qatar is a very important country for us. We are enjoying high rates of growth and sales in all of our operations. With all the upcoming malls and stadiums and other infrastructure development, we see astronomical growth of our business in future,” he added.
The brand has already gained popularity in Qatar, with its internationally renowned menu of grills, steaks, burgers and sandwiches, apart from quality food and friendly service.
Asked to provide details about the pre-requisites of obtaining Applebee’s franchisee, he said: “It is awarded as ‘own and operate basis’. Usually we look at people who can run multiple units, and not single franchisee. The management evaluates the individual’s financial capacity and operational ability to carry a supply chain business like ours.”
The Peninsula
