Dubai: Just Falafel will focus on opening company-owned stores and developing its product offerings next year, according to its founder and managing director, Mohamad Bitar.

“In the UAE, we want to open another three locations, mostly company-owned,” he told Gulf News in a phone interview on Thursday, adding that the restaurant chain is planning to expand further in the US, Canada and Australia.

Just Falafel currently has 45 stores in 10 countries, which are mostly franchised. It has five company-owned stores in the UAE.

The restaurant chain will slow down its expansion through franchising, according to Bitar.

“We decided to slow down franchising because our growth was extremely steep. Because our growth was phenomenal in the last two years, I’m finding it hard to hire people to cope with this growth,” he said.

On whether the company is seeking funding for its expansion next year, he said: “ Of course, to grow faster.” It is not considering an initial public offering (IPO) at the present time.

“We went through this IPO exercise. We are too young for it. It’s better to get more mature, and then maybe we will look at IPOing in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, Just Falafel has expanded its menu to include products other than falafel, a Middle Eastern deep fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas or fava beans.

It now includes shawarma, a flatbread containing meat and toppings, and quinoa tabbouleh, a vegetarian dish made of tomatoes, parsley, mint and onions, with quinoa, which is a grain.

This year, the company opened stores in Egypt, Australia, the US and Canada. In North America, it plans to open almost 160 outlets over the next five years, it said earlier this year.

The restaurant chain has signed agreements to develop over 720 outlets in 18 countries.

Some of Just Falafel’s stores have not performed as expected. A few months ago, it closed its stores in Lebanon and Jordan.

“In Lebanon, it was mostly because of the [political] situation there,” Bitar said, while in Jordan, “not enough choice and price competition” were the reasons why the store closed its doors.