Abu Dhabi: Urban Bites, a quick-service eatery in Abu Dhabi, is poised for growth with expansion plans in to markets in Dubai, Bahrain, and Kuwait, according to its co-founder, Mark Hintze.
The company, which has four branches in Abu Dhabi, has signed franchise agreements to open outlets in Kuwait and Bahrain in the first quarter of 2015. Outlets set to open in Dubai do not have a confirmed launch time yet.
“The largest proportion of our investment went into developing the Urban Bites concept, and opening our two main stores in Abu Dhabi. Our focus is now on opening smaller outlets and kiosks across the region,” Hintze told Gulf News.
He added that the business aims to gradually expand in the region, and is on the lookout for new franchise opportunities.
Urban Bites targets professionals with healthy eating habits — a demographic where Hintze found a niche in the market.
“We recognised that there was a gap in the market for high quality food offerings that could be delivered speedily without any compromise on quality. By filling that gap, we have found that we are a big hit with working professionals and other people on-the-go who want healthy and great tasting food that is served quickly,” he said.
Urban Bites, which is categorised under the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector as a small business, opened in August 2013 in Abu Dhabi’s Khalidiya area, and Hintze said the flagship branch has been successful.
Support
Its most recent outlets at the Higher Colleges of Technology and Airport Road have also been busy since their opening day.
The co-founder said that as a small business, there has been very good support from the UAE government. The presence of organisations like Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, and Dubai SME also helps boost the sector and entrepreneurs in the UAE.
“Both schemes are successfully fostering the economic growth of the UAE by encouraging entrepreneurship,” he said.
As for the outlook for business, Hintze said he expected the customer base to continue growing.
“There is definitely an appetite for up-market food outlets that offer speedy service without compromising on quality. We aim to keep it simple yet upscale, appealing to customers by providing a flexible, swift service allied to the best in quality,” he said.
Hintze added, “The food and beverage sector as a whole is growing at an incredible rate, and I would say that the choice and competition in the market is outstripping current population growth. A concept needs to stand out from the crowd in order to survive.”
