Sub-franchising, wherein a locally present master licensee signs up multiple franchise partners, is catching up with franchising as the most popular way for regional entrepreneurs to take on an established brand name in the Middle East, according to George Kunnappally, general manager, food & beverage division, Al Madani Group of Companies.
“Franchising is not new to this market. Most of the major F&B brands are already here or are in the process of setting up,” said Kunnappally.
“Sub-franchising, wherein a locally present master licensee or regional developer signs up multiple franchise partners and opens stores with the regional developer acting as a representative of the parent company, is quite new in this market but catching up fast,” explained Kunnappally.
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Al Madani Group of Dubai, which represents brands such as Levis, Dockers and Zummo in the region, has won the right to sub-franchise two of its F&B brands, Charley’s Grilled Subs and Whittard of Chelsea.
Al Madani Group currently has eight Charley’s Grilled Subs stores in Dubai.
“In 2010, we opened three sub franchisee owned and operated stores at Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi and Bawadi Mall and UAEU Campus in Al Ain. New franchisee owned and operated stores are also scheduled to open at the Enoc gas stations in JAFZA and Al Twar and Mushrif Mall in Abu Dhabi,” said Kunnappally.
Al Madani has three Whittard of Chelsea stores in Dubai. New stores will open later this year at the Ibn Battuta Mall and Deira City Centre, as well as locations for sub franchisees in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Dubai.
International food and beverage brands sought regional franchisees across the Middle East by participating in the Franchising Middle East (FME) exhibition from 14-16 March in Dubai.
“In the past few months the F&B franchise sector has seen phenomenal growth in the Middle East, pointing to its growing popularity as a business model. Both local and international brands are expanding heavily and we predict this to continue as the region starts to emerge from the global economic downturn,” said Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, Chairman of International Expo-Consults (IEC), the organiser of Franchising Middle East (FME).
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