The newly opened City Centre Mall in Kathmandu, boosting Retail and Franchise Business

Several Indian Franchisors are now considering expansion overseas, one of India’s closest neighbours and strong allies is Nepal. Nepal is a land locked country, with a population of 30 million.
During our last visit to Nepal, we interacted with a few local franchisors and also represented a delegation to Nepal, along with a couple of Indian master frachisors and one international one. This was way back in 2008, during my previous assignment with Franchising Association of India.

This article will provide insights for international franchisors (Indian and around the world) that are looking at expanding at Nepal.

Franchising in Nepal, is evolving but still in its infancy. As per the Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, there are 95 franchisors operating in Nepal. Most of the franchisors operating in this country are Indian or have Indian master franchisees, apart from a few from Singapore and Thailand. In comparion to our previous visit, the Franchising market in Nepal has strengthened and opened up.

Some of the Indian Brands that are present in Nepal are Gini and Jony, Time Square, Planet Fashion, Raymonds, Angan (North Indian Food Franchise), Lilliput, Big Cinemas, John players, Peter England, Provogue, Yana Sizzlers (Pune Based food franchisor), Kendriya Vidyalaya, Patanjali Chikitsalaya, Aptech, NIIT, Eurokids and many more.

Some of the other international brands that have Indian master franchisees are United Colours of Benetton, Cookie Man, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, KFC, Wimpy, Hot Breads, Puma, Reebok, Adidas, Kinkow and so on.

Franchisors that have a good potential are those that are operating in education, Healthcare and retail sector. The Indo Nepal Treaty for Peace and Friendship 1950 has encouraged a lot of tourism between the two countries as well as transacting between the two nations. Trade between the two countries is only going to increase, thanks to the recently signed trade pact. Several airlines, mainly, Kingfisher, Jet and Air India fly between the two countries.

Some of the other factors that are leading to an increased consumption of Indian goods and services is the cultural and linguistic

KFC Food Franchise Opens at Kathmandu, hundreds queue up to taste KFC

similarity, as well as Bollywood and Indian Televisions, have led to a better understanding of Indian Entrepreneurs and Businessmen. During our recent trip, we red in Kathmandu Post, about Shriram Chandra winning the Indian Idol. Karobaar has a strong Indian influence as well. The current Prachanda Govt. is slowly yet gradually reforming its economy. Blackberry Services after years of wait, was finally offered to Nepalese businessmen.

International Franchisors have a great opportunity at hand and should not loose this opportune time. Another major advantage for Indian Entrepreneurs is the fact that Nepal has minimal competition, several daily goods and service are more expensive than in India.

Financial Services
The Nepalese Stock Exchange currently has only 63 companies (In comparison to BSEs 4900 not considering the NSE and other exchanges) listed, the capital markets are yet to be completely tapped. Several Indian financial services franchises can grow aggressively considering their expertise in one of the most competitive markets. The Nepalese look at investing in Indian stocks and companies.

Education
Nepalese students in the pursuit of better and higher quality education keep considering overseas education. The current level of education provided is not helpful, hence several vocational training institutes are flourishing. Overseas Education and Study Overseas Franchises are thriving, consider these numbers that over 27000 left for western countries and 15000 for Indian education, spending over (USD 265 Million / INR 1250 Crores)

Recently Dabur and a host of other Indian joint ventures announced additional investments, this will lead to a greater need for skilled and talented workforce. Vocational Institutions be it English Learning Franchises or Retail Shop Floor Training Franchises have experienced phenomenal growth.

Retail Trade
The gradual opening of the economy has lead to greater consumption. In Comparison to our previous visit, malls not sport International Brands, The Sherpa Mall at Darbur Marg houses several fashion and luxury brands that include Tissot, Apple, Swatch, Time World, Magic Beans, Puma and so forth. However, a word of caution, credit card users are penalised in Nepal and hence transactions cost 4 per cent more.

We visited Abhinandan, a high end saree store that has also reported an increase in sales, the entrepreneurs behind Abhinandan, already plan to franchise their retail concept overseas.

One of the newly opened malls, which was advertised as the only Air Conditioned Mall in Kathmandu, the City Centre Mall has several Indian Brands as well as Big Cinemas Multiplex. It is currently offering NPR 175 (INR 109) Rental and NPR 25 (INR 15.5) as Common Area Maintenance. This is quite reasonable for an upscale mall.

A significant portion of business in Nepal is influenced by Indian Marwaris (An Indian Trading and Business Community). Unsurprisingly, most of the enquiries we get from Nepal are from this community.

Questions, I am sure, you have many, feel free to email us at Dhawal.Shah@way2franchise.com and have your queries answered. ]]> http://arabianfranchise.com/?feed=rss2&p=1590 0 http://arabianfranchise.com/?p=1586 http://arabianfranchise.com/?p=1586#comments Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:46:32 +0000 Pooja Kulkarni http://arabianfranchise.com/?p=1586

Here’s a rather interesting example of licensing / brand expansion: Condé Nast is preparing to license several of its magazine titles to restaurants across Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The company’s new Hong Kong-based restaurant division will be called, appropriately enough, “Condé Nast Restaurants,” and will oversee the licensing of Vogue and GQ related eateries.

Condé-themed restaurants already exist in Russia, where diners can savor the delicious irony of eating at Vogue Café, in addition to a GQ Bar or Tatler Club, made possible through a collaboration with restaurateur Arkady Novikov.

The company hopes to open the first couple of licensed restaurants in 2011, most likely in Hong Kong and Dubai or Singapore

Says all master franchisee branches must close

by 8th August 2010

Five lessons
Here are five ways you can borrow from the MLM community and help your franchise network achieve greater success:

1. Build relationships first, empires second
2. Make duplication as important as the system
3. Be willing to work for others
4. Make continuing education your business
5. Cultivate a pass-it-on mentality

Build relationships first, empires second
Network marketers emphasize building relationships. Franchisors emphasize selling franchises. Of course, franchisors train and support franchisees, too — some do it equally as well as the best MLM companies — but often there’s not much emphasis on building a relationship, either between the franchisor and franchisee, or among franchisees.

Scott Boulch, a marketer who has succeeded in MLM and also worked with franchise companies, says, “People in MLM understand their income is one hundred percent dependent on their downline success, so relationships are important. But in the franchisor/franchisee relationship there’s less of a connection. It’s like they get a big franchise fee upfront and monthly royalties, but there’s less concern about the day-to-day development of the franchisee.” Top network marketers value relationships — it’s a way of life in MLM.

Tom Ziglar, son of Zig Ziglar, whose speeches and books have inspired countless network marketers and franchisees worldwide, adds, “Success is about relationship. What a new franchisee really needs is a relationship with a real human being at the home office who can coach them every week on how to grow the business, and who also has a real relationship with them. Great network marketers not only sponsor someone into the business, they coach them daily and help them grow and recruit new people. They are more than just the sponsor, but a friend.”

Make duplication as important as the system
“Without duplication, all your time and effort goes to waste because you don’t get a big upfront payment in network marketing, and you want to be sure you get paid on the back-end,” explains Boulch. He says new MLMers are told “to do exactly what your upline does; don’t deviate.”

In fairness, franchisees are told to “follow the system.” But it’s not the same. In franchising, the upline is usually the corporate office. In MLM, distributors don’t need to call the corporate office. When they need help their upline may live just across the street, or they’ll be at the next weekly meeting. Hands-on help is almost immediate in MLM and it cultivates duplication.

“There’s no room to be entrepreneurial,” continues Boulch. “Entrepreneurs don’t make good franchisees and they don’t make good network marketers, either. Those who do exactly what their upline teaches them to do will succeed.” Relationship impacts duplication, too. It’s easier to get people to duplicate when they’re working directly with someone who cares about their performance and welfare.

Be willing to work for others!
It’s an odd thing about MLM, but the successful people, those at the top of the uplines, are willing to go to work down line. “The job of the upline,” continues Boulch, “is to make money for their downline. It’s backwards in franchising. Franchisees are seen as making money for the franchisor. But in network marketing, the upline works downstream.”

Again, relationship is a key. If franchisees sense they have a “friend at corporate” they are more likely to perform better.

Make continuing education your business
Franchising is often in the business of franchising whereas network marketing companies are in the business of training and education. “Network marketing companies are constantly educating,” says Ziglar. “They complete one event and they immediately begin building to the next event. They do a very good job of keeping people plugged in to everything the company is doing. There’s massive communication effort upline and downline.” In franchising, franchisees sometimes complain that they only hear from their franchisor when they’ve done something wrong.

In general, franchising can benefit by implementing more educational programming, as well as opportunities to communicate. Typically, in a good MLM company there are several network phone calls weekly for educational and communications purposes. In addition there are webinars and online updates. Typically, franchisors under-utilize technologies that advance communications and education.

Cultivate a pass-it-on mentality
Successful network marketers must teach the next person. They must pass on their expertise to the next person.

Franchisees learn the system in training, usually at the corporate office, and they get ongoing support, but not usually from another franchisee, or practitioner. Franchisees are not expected to teach other franchisees about how to work the business, and yet, franchisees appreciate learning from other franchisees. That’s why franchisee mentoring programs are popular. The MLM community knows the value of passing it on.

“In MLM,” says Boulch, “a distributor learns the ropes from another distributor, and is then expected to teach the system to many more distributors, thus creating their downline. Teaching re-enforces the training. The minute you have to teach someone else how to do it you get better at it.”

Go ahead, step down to new opportunities!
Even if it feels like you’re stooping, any one or all of these five lessons may stretch your franchise network to new levels of success. And there are at least five more lessons to follow — you’ll find them in Network Marketing for Dummies, a book that I wrote with Zig Ziglar.

As of September 2010 Dr. John Hayes will be a member of the faculty at Gulf University for Science & Technology in Kuwait.

It’s easy to overlook the importance of marketing in franchising because there are so many other components that compete for a franchisor’s time. Selling franchises, for example. Training and support. Site construction. Managing the corporate team. Funding the business. Dealing with vendors. When franchisors forget (or just don’t know) that marketing propels franchising — that nothing is more important than marketing, especially to a franchisee — they fail to live up to their responsibilities as franchisors.

Worse: they disappoint their franchisees, which usually brings franchise development to a standstill.

Too few franchisors invest in marketing

Franchising is in a mess right now (for many brands) because too few franchisors are marketers, and too few franchise companies are providing marketing machines for their franchisees. Things aren’t going to get better until franchisors begin to invest again in marketing.

Early in my career, when I was fortunate to consult with the late franchisor Don Dwyer, I learned about the significance of marketing in franchising. (I’ve blogged previously about Dwyer. Search for “Dwyer” at FranchiseMastermind.com for the articles I’ve written about him). He was the first to demonstrate to me that franchising is all about marketing.

Solve the marketing equation for franchisees and you’ve got a successful franchise — or at least you’ve mastered one of the the critical components of a successful franchise. Granted, you’ve got to have something to sell — something that people want to buy. Selling, however, is always much easier for franchisees to learn and master than is marketing. And that’s not because marketing is so complex, or because franchisees can’t master marketing — it’s because selling is a skill that can be taught and transferred, while marketing, also a skill, involves multiple other components including a branded message and (especially) the money to brand and promote that message. How many franchisees could afford to develop ads like those of the major franchise companies and then have the funds to air them on radio or television?

Dwyer’s marketing machine

Dwyer launched his conglomeration of franchised businesses with a carpet cleaning company — nothing too sexy about that — and part of his promise to franchisees was lead generation. He figured out how to generate customers for franchisees, and that promise attracted people who wanted to buy his franchises. Of course, people with carpets needed cleaning services, but they had many choices — all they had to do was open the Yellow Pages (you remember them, don’t you?). Dwyer developed a telemarketing campaign that consistently produced customers for his franchisees, who were skilled at selling, and skilled at cleaning carpets, but not so good at finding customers on their own. The challenge for franchisees is almost always finding the customers! A Rainbow International franchise, sold by Dwyer, solved that problem!

As Dwyer went on to create or buy another half dozen franchise concepts, in each instance he made certain the concept included a marketing machine. Consequently, he sold franchises at a rate that dazzled his competitors and other franchisors (watch for my upcoming blog article: Who’s Selling Franchises — you’ll be surprised by The Dwyer Group’s success. Or, maybe not. We’ve come to expect it of them!)

Franchise marketing geniuses

Through the years, many of my clients proved their value as marketers — Jim Cavanaugh, founder of Jani-King, single-handedly created the marketing machine in commercial cleaning while he was a college student; AAMCO created the buzz for transmission repair. But perhaps the most successful of all (at least in terms of getting the greatest brand recognition for the least money invested) was the late Ken D’Angelo who concepualized We Buy Ugly Houses®. Now there was a franchise marketing genius!

I met D’Angelo in 2001 (and succeeded him for more than four years as President of HomeVestors beginning in 2004) and was dazzled by his marketing prowess. While his start-up franchise consisted of the basic components (he had 80 franchisees when I met him and we built the business to 265), all of the components needed to be tweaked, except for his marketing machine! For many years, that was HomeVestors’ differentiating advantage. When D’Angelo conceptualized We Buy Ugly Houses® and branded it using billboards, the phones started ringing in his franchised offices and his franchisees loved him for it.

The franchisor’s primary job

D’Angelo knew that his principle job as a franchisor was generating business for his franchisees, who bought houses at a discount, typically 60% of the after-repair value of a property. Finding properties to buy was a challenge for franchisees — at least it was back in the seller’s market when D’Angelo created his slogan. (Today, those houses are easy to find — just call the bank!) When D’Angelo coupled lead generation with interim money — in its heyday, HomeVestors loaned money to franchisees to acquire properties — he created a flow of prospects that lined up to buy his franchises. Of course, it also helped that at the time, everyone (or so it seemed) wanted to invest in real estate! Not so much today — but then again, leads are plentiful and the economic crisis forced HomeVestors out of the money-lending business. But with $20-million in advertising dollars behind it, HomeVestors’ marketing machine was once among the most effective in franchising!

The concern about marketing

I frequently speak to franchisees who represent many different businesses, and the overriding concern today among those who are failing, or struggling, is marketing.

Where are the leads?
Where are the customers?
How do I get more customers?
How do I keep my customers?
How do I get customers to spend more money in my business?

Those are the questions and issues facing far too many franchisees today, which is why marketing is the most important component for franchisors to address these days.

Unfortunately, many franchisors either don’t know the importance of producing a marketing machine or they can’t afford to. Sometimes, in fact, the franchisor hasn’t figured out a marketing scheme, and in those cases the franchisees are in the worst situation. The saving grace may be that all these franchisors aren’t selling many franchises these days! Not all bad when you consider that they’re likely only to produce more unhappy franchisees.

Marketing machines produce happy franchisees

Want happy franchisees? As Dwyer, Cavanaugh, D’Angelo and so many other savvy franchisors have demonstrated, create marketing machines that generate quality leads and attract customers and your franchisees will prosper.

Even better, they’ll sell franchises for you! Unfortunately, too many franchisors are most concerned now about their ability to sell franchises and they are not investing in what really matters — producing marketing programs that get results for franchisees.

Just Released: FranchiseMastermind Interview Series

Curious to know how they did it? What did Don Dwyer know that other franchisors need to know? And William Rosenberg, founder of Dunkin’ Donuts? What can you learn from franchisors Jim Amos, Jim Bugg, JoAnne Shaw and others? You can immediately download their interviews with Dr. John Hayes. Click here

In September 2010 Dr. John Hayes joins the faculty of Gulf University for Science & Technology in Kuwait.

Boots already owns a 50 per cent stake in the business following two separate investments in the last decade. Alliance Boots executive chairman Stefano Pessina told the Financial Times the deal is the most significant since he and private equity vehicle Kohlberg Kravis Roberts spent £11.1bn taking the firm private. Pessina says the move represents a shift in focus to the distribution side of the business, which will be fuelled by a number of upcoming acquisitions. (To read Indian Franchise News)

Hedef has the added advantage of owning a 50 per cent stake in Egypt’s biggest drug wholesaler and interests in Algeria, making it perfectly placed for Alliance Boots’ push into the continent. Charismatic Italian Pessina has transformed the firm since he led the buy-out, merging parts of the business with outside firms and investing heavily in its flagship Boots brand in the UK.

Earlier this year Alliance Boots became only the third UK retailer to post profits of more than £1bn, a 13 per cent hike year-on-year. Tesco and Marks & Spencer are the only other British retailers to have produced annual profits over the £1bn mark. (To know more about other Retail Franchise Opportunities)

Alliance Boots’ revenue for the year to 31 March rose 9.6 per cent to £22.5bn, including a 10.3 per cent increase at its wholesale arm and a 5.2 per cent rise at its health and beauty division. Net debt fell £645m to £8.39bn.

The Master Franchisee for Alliance Boots in Middle East is the Al-Shaya Group, headed by Mohammed Al Shaya. The Alliance Boots is the largest pharmacy chain in the Middle East

27th July 2010: Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA

The robust growth forecast underlines the increasing economic contributions of the franchising industry in Saudi Arabia and its strong potential to become the most popular non-oil business sector in the region.

The Saudi International Franchise Exhibition and Conference 2010 (IFEC 2010), the third international exhibition and conference for the franchise industry in Saudi Arabia, seeks to complement the surge in franchising activity by providing a platform for international franchisors, entrepreneurs, agents, business owners and investors from all over the Middle East to discuss the most promising franchising opportunities and address emerging industry challenges. IFEC 2010 will be held from October 26 to 28, 2010 at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Diya Abdo, Project Manager of IECF in Riyadh Exhibitions Company, said: “Franchising in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is fast becoming one of the most popular non-oil businesses in the region. The growing number of franchising businesses has been influenced by the government’s proactive efforts to encourage foreign direct investments and promote the growth of SMEs in the country.

The government has offered value-added business incentives and has developed world-class infrastructure for basic resources such as water, oil, communication and electricity, which has helped greatly reduce the operational costs for the franchisees. Moreover, up to 60 per cent of the Saudi population are under the age of 25, making them a prime target market for various international franchise businesses and subsequently creating a wide range of franchising opportunities in the country.” Several international franchisors are expected from Middle East, Singapore, India and Thailand.

This is the 3rd edition of the Franchising Expo in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, considering that there are a lot of entrepreneurs looking for new business opportunities. This is one of the three mojor franchise exhibitions organised in the Middle East and North Africa Region.

IFEC 2010 will include seminars targeting foreign franchisors that have enjoyed success and are looking to expand their franchising activities in Saudi Arabia. The seminars will cover legal and financial issues when developing businesses in Saudi Arabia, while cross-cultural issues will also be discussed.

With the first locations set to open in the new Muscat Grand Mall later this year, the Canadian chains are looking to serve up a fresh, healthy alternative to Omani eaters with 21 locations in the next 10 years.

“The power of the pita has always resonated with the cuisine of the Middle East, and we expect our Canadian twist to make Extreme Pita and Purblendz a household name throughout the region,” said Alex Rechichi, CEO and Co-Founder of Extreme Pita and Purblendz. “Our commitment to providing customers a unique product full of fresh, healthy options will help drive the international success of our brand.”

In an effort to further the brands’ expansion plans, Extreme Pita and Purblendz have entered into a Master Franchise Agreement with The Double Crown Group. Widely known in the region for specializing in various operational arenas and representing some of the top brand names around the globe, the group will oversee the development of all 21 units in the Sultanate of Oman, including 11 Extreme Pitas and 10 Purblendz.

“We are proud to be partnering with Extreme Pita and Purblendz as they expand internationally,” said Aadham Bin Tariq Bin Taimur Al-Said, Chairman of The Double Crown Group. “We think both brands have tremendous potential and look forward to growing them throughout the region.”

Located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula bordering the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman will serve as the springboard for Extreme Pita and Purblendz’ international expansion.

“Our expansion into Oman is the catalyst that will ignite our international expansion plans,” said Mark Cunningham, Executive Vice President of International Operations and Business Development for Extreme Pita and Purblendz. “The success we expect to experience will help us to increase our brand not only in the Middle East, but across Eastern and Western Europe, China, South East Asia and India, as well.”

Positioned in a niche between monster fast food outlets and fast casual dining environments, Extreme Pita continues to offer increasingly busy consumers convenience and value with its large selection of fresh and nutritious pita sandwiches assembled from the freshest ingredients.

Unlike traditional fast food restaurants and sub shops, Extreme Pita does not offer foot-long loaves of bread with just the typical options for filling. Instead, they serve a fresh, modern version of the healthy Mediterranean staple – the pita – and feature a “no rules” menu that customizes every rolled pita to suit the individual tastes of its health conscious customers. Offering an unmatched dining experience without added fats and empty calories, items are freshly grilled right in front of the customer’s eyes with water, not oil. Inspiring healthier living for its customers.

Purblendz adds to the healthy dinning by mixing up a variety of healthy, on-the-go smoothies, including Fruit, Green and Elixir Smoothie categories.

About Extreme Pita

Extreme Pita was co-founded by Alex and Mark Rechichi in 1997. Their desire was to provide a product that would compete against traditional fast food concepts. Right from the start their idea was simple – sell fresh and healthy food. After a great deal of research and experimenting, Extreme Pita became the answer to this quest. Today the company boasts more than 245 locations in North America and is experiencing a double digit growth rate. Other Food and Beverage Opportunities

About Purblendz

Offering “All Natural – Pure Smoothies”, Purblendz opened six locations throughout Canada and the United States in 2009 as a clip-on to Extreme Pita locations. The company will be opening stand-alone locations as Kiosk’s and in-line stores in 2010. The Purblendz menu includes smoothes categories under Fruit smoothies, Green Smoothies and Elixirs Smoothies. Other Food and Beverage Opportunities

Initially established as a building materials supplier, Danube transformed into a one-stop shop concept called Danube BUILDMART in 2009, offering products from a host of reputed vendors as well as expert product and design advice under a single roof. Today, there are a total of nine Danube BUILDMART stores in operation, which the company hopes to grow to 16 branches by 2010 through the AED 200 million expansion plan it has embarked on since the second quarter of this year. Including its non-BUILDMART stores, the company has a total of 22 global retail facilities 16 in the UAE, two in Oman, one each in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and two in India as well. The company has also invested AED 50 million in a new 1.3 million square feet manufacturing facility in TechnoPark, which will be functional by early 2011.

With the global economy approaching the recovery phase and investors starting to regain confidence in the regional market as a result of massive government actions to revive the construction and real estate industries, we are expecting the demand for building materials in the Middle East and Africa to witness a significant increase this year, said Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube Building Materials. We have already made massive investments toward additional manufacturing hubs to boost our production and sufficiently address the expected rise in demand, and now our focus is to establish highly convenient Danube BUILDMART stores in the most strategic locations within our target regions.

Danube has also recently launched an AED 15 million ‘Danube BUILDMART’ in Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai, thereby marking its third retail branch to be based within a mall, which is a new concept pioneered by the company. Spanning an area of 15,000 sq. feet, ‘Danube BUILDMART’ in Ibn Battuta Mall offers products from a host of reputed international and regional vendors under a single roof, installed in an actual home set-up to allow customers to enjoy a more personalised shopping experience with excellent service and design assistance.

Staying true to our commitment to being the pioneer in the industry, we are taking major strides to acquire major market share thought the MENA region in the next five years. We believe that this is the perfect time to expand to be able to place ourselves in a strategic position to fully leverage the opportunities once the market fully recovers, concluded Sajan.

Driven by the significant growth it has witnessed in the recent years, Danube recently announced that it is looking at an initial public offering (IPO) listing in Saudi Arabia or the UAE within the next 5 years. Targeting to secure AED 2.5 to AED 3 billion in total revenues in the next three to four years, after hitting a total of AED 1 billion in annual turnover despite the challenges presented by the financial crisis, the company revealed that it is also open to dual listing in both countries.

Mucho Burrito, which opens its first location in the Middle East later this year in Oman, recently entered into a Master Franchisee Agreement with The Double Crown Group and plans to have six restaurants up and running in the next 10 years, said Mark Cunningham, Executive Vice President of International Operations and Business Development for Mucho Burrito.

Cunningham said the company’s first restaurant will be located in the Muscat Grand Mall, a new upcoming mall in the Sultanate of Oman which, upon completion, will be the biggest mall in the country.

“The region’s strong economic growth and increasing population presents a tremendous growth opportunity for us as we begin to expand our brand outside of North America,” Cunningham said. “We feel that Mexican is under-represented in the fast casual portion of the business and look forward to feeding the local appetites with freshly made and authentic ingredients not seen before in the region.”

Described as “Mucho food with Mucho quality,” Mucho Burrito provides customers with an unmatched flavour experience by offering fresh and authentic Mexican food in a contemporary and casual setting. Featuring a “no rules” menu enhanced by the scent of spices and seasonings, roasted vegetables and charbroiled and braised meats, each meal is made to order in front of customers with authentic recipes and fresh ingredients made daily. Customers can choose from a variety of menu selections including hand-rolled burritos, tacos and quesadillas, as well as nacho plates, salads and a selection of custom “Johnny Mucho” sauces.

“We are proud to be partnering with Mucho Burrito as the brand expands its global presence,” said Aadham Bin Tariq Bin Taimur Al-Said, Chairman of The Double Crown Group, widely known in the region for specializing in various operational arenas and representing some of the top brand names around the globe. “The concept is the first of its kind in the region and we’re excited about our role in growing the brand’s presence.”

Located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula bordering the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The Sultanate Oman is the springboard for Mucho Burrito’s international expansion.

“Oman is just the beginning,” Cunningham added. “We plan to increase our presence in the Middle East, as well as across Eastern and Western Europe, China and India.”

About Mucho Burrito

Mucho Burrito opened its doors June 13, 2006 in Mississauga, Ontario. At the time, Founders Mark and Alex Rechichi and Sean Black, created a name and logo that reflected the signature menu items-large gourmet burritos, best described as “Mucho food with Mucho quality.” Their mission from the inception – to provide customers with an unmatched Mexican flavor experience by offering the freshest and best quality burritos ever tasted, made right in front of your eyes. Today, Mucho Burrito has grown to nearly 30 restaurants throughout Canada.