New food brands flock to Franchise Middle East exhibition

"Food is always a strong franchise market. There are no limits to our appetite for new food concepts," said Mathew Shay, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association (IFA), in Dubai for the FME show.

According to IFA, which boasts 1,300 corporate members and 10,000 franchisees, McDonalds, Burger King and KFC are the three biggest growing franchise brands internationally. It is little surprise then that other food franchise options are quickly emerging looking for their piece of the business pie.

At FME 2009 this week a number of new to market options are being debuted. Egypt's Integrated Food Franchising is promoting its Pizza Conez product, a revolutionary new take on take away.

"The product is a pizza cone similar to an ice cream cone and it takes five minutes to prepare. The USP of the product is that it is portable and has mobility. Most fast food products are from US, like Pizza Hut and Dominoes but Pizza Conez guarantees authentic Italian ingredients," said Dr Ehab Ezzat, chairman, IFF.

"The market strategy is to enter several other markets with this innovative product. Investment is comparatively low as the investor can rent a kiosk in any busy business area and it requires only one person to man the kiosk. The product is readymade and microwave and accordingly it is very easy to prepare as well," Ezzat added.

IFF has already operates 10 outlets in Egypt and it exports to Kuwait, Sudan, Italy and Romania. The company is now looking for a franchisee for the UAE.

London Dairy is another food brand looking to increase its presence in the market.

"London Dairy is a very well known brand with leading market shares in premium packaged ice cream segment in most GCC countries, we have extended this leading brand into the London Dairy Café concept which we showcase this FME2009. London Dairy Café (LDC) is a complete Dessert Destination that offers the entire exclusive range of London Dairy Premium Ice Creams and much more. The LDC also serves a wide range of mouth-watering dessert sundaes, pastries, cakes and single origin coffee," said Gaurav Narain, manager - business development, London Dairy Café.

"London Dairy Café is a business model ready to expand through the franchising route. We realize that FME is a great forum to interact with entrepreneurs driven by customer service who search for a franchising opportunity such as ours," Narain added.

For London Dairy Cafe, the Middle East is the primary market and Narain aims to have a foot print in every country.

FME is the region's only exhibition that offers a world of exciting opportunities to international franchisers to access the thriving Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market and launch their franchise concepts.

The exhibition facilitates direct communication between entrepreneurs and potential franchise buyers from the region and beyond.

The show has earned the enviable reputation of being the ideal networking opportunity for the franchising industry in the Middle East, which industry analysts have estimated is worth $30bn.

FME is the largest international franchise exhibition in the Middle East and is supported by the IFA (International Franchise Association).

FME2009 takes place from March 2-4 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.