In January 2011 Foodmark's country operations manager for Qatar and Kuwait, Sumeet Jhingan, admitted that investing in Qatar’s The Pearl was a "risk" and that "everybody" thought they were "crazy" for doing it.
A year on he reveals that Foodmark, which operates a number of internationally franchised restaurants within the UAE is doing better than he could have ever expected.
“I did think the Pearl was a risk. But now a lot of people are seeing how well we are doing and asking us how. We have opened five restaurants in the last year, including Zafran and Carluccio’s in Kuwait and Carluccio’s, Mango Tree and Chi'Zen in Doha.
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“There has been a big growth in the last two quarters in our restaurants in Qatar, with an increase of 17% in sales and 21% in covers,” Jhingan reports. “Although, we have had some problems serving alcohol on the Pearl in the last couple of weeks, which has affected sales.”
“We have seen a 30% increase in sales of our shelf items at Carluccio’s. It is affecting overall revenue greatly.
When asked what he thought the reason for the increase in Foodmark sales was, Jhingan replied: “I think it’s because there are more and more expats moving into the region. And the population of Qatar has just gone over 1.65 million. There’s a new mall going to open and new outlets on the pearl – it’s all bringing people in.”
Jhingan does admit that they’ve had a few setbacks along the way too. Rising food costs have meant having to absorb extra costs themselves, but Jhingan explains that they’ve been able to make up revenues in different ways.
“We introduced events like our Sundowners [live music sessions from local and international DJs and musicians] at the Mango Tree [Foodmark’s Thai restaurant] which have been really popular and done very well for us. And we’re offering drinks promotions and types of drink, like our Asian sangria, that you can’t get anywhere else in Qatar.
"We have tried to increase the footfall in our restaurants with creative events like these top make up for rising food costs. We do 500 covers on a Friday. There are clubs that don’t do that many covers.
Foodmark has also faced setbacks with projects in Bahrain due to political unrest in the state, which are on hold until further notice.
Next year the company plans to invest QAR 8-10 million (US $2.2-2.7million) in new restaurants Zafran, Max’s chicken restaurant and Carluccio’s.
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