Multiple markets
While running restaurants on your own doorstep, and running them consistently well, is no easy task, the challenge becomes even more complex when you’re responsible for delivering the same dining experience in multiple markets.
Multi-brand portfolio holder, Jumeirah Restaurants, already has its flagship brand The Noodle House located in several countries across the Middle East and beyond.
Achieving and maintaining a high level of consistency across all 16 existing outlets is an on-going project and, with potentially 30 more outlets to be signed in 2011, a water-tight approach is required.
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Phil Broad, managing director of the company explains: “We’ve put in a global mystery diner programme, so we evaluate our partners every month and we share that result as soon as it comes out, which measures our key performance indicators of a customer experience.
“We get feedback directly from people travelling but we also go and do audits and I think that’s the key thing that you have to do continually — go into your partners’ stores with a supportive mind-set, give them feedback on how they’re operating and work with them to put a plan together to improve the business.”
While consistency is paramount, the flip-side of the coin is finding a balance between retaining the brand’s essence and adapting it to suit local markets. The multi-cultural mix of the Middle East can be challenging when it comes to implementing brand standards.
Radwan Masri, master franchisee for Tiffinbites in the region, explains: “We have noticed that customers in the UK are more comfortable with communal seating than here in the region; this is due to cultural differences.”
While restaurant layouts may be relatively easy to adapt to the local market, flavour preferences can prove more complex. Phil Broad explains how Jumeirah Restaurants works with its partners globally to overcome this obstacle for The Noodle House.
“We have a recipe bank of 500 recipes that we can use to work with partners to create the right menu for the environment that they’re working within and also adapt some of the flavour profiles whether it’s spice levels, number of vegetarian dishes, or the type of desserts that are on the menu.
So we do adapt the product offering but we still stay true to the brand by keeping core products on the menu and no product will go onto a partner’s menu unless it has been tested in Dubai.”
Jumeirah Restaurants also owns the rights across the region to operate a number of Caprice Holdings brands including Rivington Grill and The Ivy, the former already open in Dubai and the latter to open in Dubai in the spring.
Adapting to market conditions is an area where time and resources have significantly been invested, not only from an operational aspect but also from a menu perspective.
David O’Brien, operations director at Caprice Holdings says: “We pride ourselves as a company on the freshness and seasonality of our food and you need to get in the country and understand the market.
We’ve had to stop thinking European seasons and start thinking about our location and what’s best here. We do tastings every week and have our ‘specials board’ to ensure that happens.
“We localise well while maintaining the DNA of the brand,” adds O’Brien.
Franchising is one way of bringing globally acclaimed brands to the Middle East. The Ivy is one example, while the Jawad Business Group, which is responsible for a plethora of restaurants and cafes, has recently added Jamie’s Italian to its franchise portfolio.
“Just as Jamie Oliver is an incredibly cool person and an equally great chef, Jamie’s Italian is a worthy reflection of his persona and his honest ethos.
If we stick to serving the food by his ethos, and of course respective recipes, I have no doubt guests will love each and every item on the menu and return to enjoy them again and again,” explains Tapan Vaidya, general manager, restaurant division, Jawad Business Group.
He continues: “Local culture and traditions have meant that the menu has been suitably modified to include certain beef and lamb items in place of other red meat. Fresh local fish is a hit with all markets in the region and it has been well incorporated in the menu.”
The opening of the outlet in Dubai will be the first international Jamie’s Italian, and Jawad Business Group plans to franchise across the region. “We believe the GCC has the potential to accommodate at least eight Jamie’s Italian restaurants over the next three to four years,” reports Vaidya.
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