Dubai: There is a lot that a kitchen can serve up ... in Abela & Co.’s case it even provided the ingredients for the launch of multiple F&B concepts. And those franchises are cooking up new revenue streams for the industrial catering company.
“These were something we had to get into because one of our key clients — the colleges here — decided they wanted a diversified choice of menu, essentially franchise concepts,” said Abdul Karim Hannawi, CEO. “This was about eight years ago, and one of the ways we felt we could offer such an option was to tie up with an international brand and introduce it at the campuses.
“It was then that we felt there were better economies of scale by creating our own concepts ... having our own kitchen helped us work around the menus.”
In the years since, Abela — which came into being in 1967 — has come to market with the ‘One2Three’ yoghurt/fresh juice concept, served up ‘Fresh 4 you’ salads and sandwiches and ‘Bean There’ cafe, and debuted ‘Baydar’ for Lebanese cuisine and ‘Zaatar W’Aktar’ for wholesome Mediterranean fare.
In addition, it has Sandella’s Flatbread Café (its sole international franchise and which has now grown into a network of 15 locations) and the self-serve ‘Red Apron’ in its portfolio. As per current projections, the franchise led revenue stream should account for 30 per cent of the overall by end 2016, from the current level of around 15 per cent. Each of the concepts took between three to six months for the company’s in-house teams to nail down the menu choices.
“Even with all these introductions, we have been quite conservative with the roll-out of our concepts,” said Hannawi. “Most of the F&B categories are quite saturated with global and local/regional franchises that a new addition would find it difficult to fit in.
“And given the rent per square foot charges at local malls and high traffic locations, one would have to be quite sure before new concepts can be brought out.”
Currently, its Dubai operations fetch 90 per cent of the caterer’s top-line numbers, and it is expecting more from Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates with the commissioning of industrial kitchens in Abu Dhabi (which opened in 2013) and Fujairah (in March). Apart from colleges, corporate clients include the likes of Microsoft and Nestle, while the F&B options at Ikea stores are also Abela’s handiwork.
“The new kitchen and the emerging opportunities in Qatar and Egypt could see the non-Dubai operations represent 30 per cent of the top-line in another two years,” said Hannawi.
