Barbar to franchise expansion plans with Kitch
Following the franchise agreement with Kitch, the first Barbar restaurant in the GCC will open in Dubai to be followed by further expansion in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Eight restaurants and cloud kitchens will be opened in the UAE, and 20 of them will be opened in Saudi Arabia, four of which will start operating in Riyadh in the second quarter of this year. Kitch will also open two Barbar restaurants in Qatar by beginning of 2022.
Mohammad Ghaziri launched Barbar in 1979 as a small ‘Manouche’ bakery in the heart of Beirut. As a family business, Barbar was built from the ground up over the years, introducing new products such as shawarma, falafel, fatayer, grills, burgers, ice creams and fruit cocktails to its extensive menu. Barbar never closed its establishments and continues to remain open 24/7, even during the pandemic and periods of strife.
Walid Hajj, Co-founder and CEO of Kitch, said, “We are honoured to represent Barbar and look forward to bringing its 40-year-old signature recipes and authentic flavours of Lebanon to key cities in the GCC through our hybrid model. As part of our franchise agreement, we will be offering Barbar’s menu through our premium store-front facilities and cloud-kitchens in the region. The alliance underlines our commitment to further build the F&B sector and deliver a portfolio of exciting brands and innovative culinary offerings. We are confident that our omni-channel cloud kitchen model will further strengthen Barbar’s brand positioning and following in the GCC.”
Mohammad Al Ghaziri, Founder of Barbar, stated that Barbar plans to expand its operations globally based on its fame in Lebanon. He said: “With this strategic partnership, we will be able to accelerate our expansion plans and bolster our presence in key markets in a relatively short span of time. The technology-led, business model of Kitch is going to be the future of both global and regional cloud-kitchen industry.”
Kitch plans to open four delivery kitchens in Riyadh in the second quarter of this year and additional 15 kitchens across the GCC by the end of 2021. Each delivery kitchen is spread over an area of 450sqm to 500sqm and is fully equipped to serve around 10 food concepts. Kitch is also in discussion with several regional and international food-concept owners and will be unveiling more brand partnerships in the coming months.
