Dubai developer Kabir Mulchandani is considering launching new global food and beverage brands at the luxury Viceroy resort he is building on Palm Jumeirah.
While he has been approached by global names wanting to be a part of the new hotel, Mulchandani said the resort’s prime location and international attention, coupled with Dubai’s reputation as a food and beverage (F&B) destination, created a perfect opportunity to establish his own brands.
“We’ve been approached by some big brands and we’re considering that as well, but our team believes our property is so magical we can use this opportunity to create some brands of our own that we can then take out, so that’s the internal debate that we’re having,” he told Arabian Business.
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“The team’s very confident that they can create something that can be as big as any big global brand.
“Dubai is such a global F&B destination and I think the next [step] for Dubai is to create its own brands.
“And the interesting thing about Dubai is it’s so cosmopolitan with so many different nationalities so a concept that’s successful here will have to appeal to many nationalities, so any concept that would work here would have to be truly international in its appeal. I think it’s an opportunity because you can test market yourself so well here.”
Mulchandani said the resort would include an “avant garde, high energy” beach club, two speciality restaurant, an all-day dining promenade with a variety of small eateries, a nightclub, business lounge, patisseries, gourmet market, sheisha lounge and rooftop bar.
“We’ve got ideas but we’re still debating what concepts to put in there,” he said.
The development is Mulchandani’s first since coming back from the financial crash.
The regional president of Abu Dhabi-backed Viceroy, which has 15 resorts worldwide, Anton Bawab, said the project had been such a success so far he was keen to work with Mulchandani on another collaboration within the Gulf.
However, Mulchandani said his focus would remain on the Palm resort until it was completed to perfection.
“Right now our focus is this; we’re really focusing on the detail of every aspect of the project,” he said.
“I really want the entire management team to stay focused on this, so until we get everything specified in the last finishing package, get all contractors appointed and make sure everything is well into execution, we won’t look at anything else substantial.
“I think the problem with a lot of things in Dubai [is that they] have been great concepts, some of them have been executed well, but a lot has been lost in the execution side and we want to stay focused on the execution.”
Mulchandani said he also was reluctant to work outside Dubai.
“I would love to work with [Viceroy] but I’m very Dubai focused. I love Dubai, I love the way business gets done here,” he said.
“So for me it would have to be something tremendously appealing to get out of Dubai.
“It’s so easy for us now we have the sales network, we have a lot of confidence from buyers that we can do something, it’s easy to raise the money, do the sales and get it done but we don’t want to take on more than we can chew on the execution side because three years later when we deliver, we don’t want disappointment, we want people to feel elevated, we want to create fans; that’s the difference.”
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