Uncategorized

April 21, 2015

Brazilian Foodservice Market Continued To Grow As General Economy Slowed

The shine on three of the four so-called BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—has dulled the past few years, as has economic growth in emerging markets as a whole. India is the only one of the four forecast to see growth accelerate this year. The Int’l. Monetary Fund just reduced its forecasts for emerging market…

April 21, 2015

Las Iguanas Puts Itself On The Menu

In our January issue of Worldwide Report, we reported that Britain’s Las Iguanas planned to open 100 units across its home country. Now it appears that the Latin-themed chain, which has 39 restaurants across England, Scotland and Wales, is looking for new owners. Las Iguanas’ private-equity owners at Bowmark Capital hired advisers last year to run a…

April 21, 2015

Brazil Fast Food Corp. Goes Private

April 21, 2015

T&S Opens Shanghai Facility

T&S Brass and Bronze Works has opened a new Shanghai production and distribution facility located at No. 43 Jinwen Road, Zhuqiao Town, Pudong New District, Shanghai. “We literally outgrew our current space,” says Pat Cotter, General Manager of the Shanghai operation. “Our manufacturing and office areas were too small in the WGQ Free Trade Zone,…

April 21, 2015

Master Franchise Deal Will Expand Wendy’s Into The Middle East

Wendy’s is about to make a big impression on the Middle East and North Africa. Kuwait-based Alghanim Industries has acquired the rights to develop the U.S. burger chain’s restaurants across the MENA region from Saudi-based Alamar Foods, a company owned by Al Jammaz Group and Carlyle Group. The company did not disclose the value of…

April 21, 2015

New Owners Seal Investment In Saudi QSR Chain, Kudu

Private-equity houses Abraaj Group and TPG Capital have signed a deal to buy a majority stake in Kudu, the Saudi Arabian QSR chain. Kudu, a family-owned company established in 1988, is the largest QSR chain in the kingdom, with more than 200 outlets. Famous for its burgers and breakfasts, the Riyadh-based chain is estimated to…

April 21, 2015

Bulgarian Chain Debuts In Romania

The owner of a Bulgarian QSR chain, Aladin Foods, says the chain will open its first store in Romania. Khaled Kharfan says his chain’s expansion program will kick off in Bucharest with three other towns to follow, including the border city of Giurgiu. Two new restaurants will be opened in Romania in partnership with the Kaufland chain of stores….

April 21, 2015

INTERNORGA Reports Biggest Show In Its History

Hamburg, Germany, was the place to be in mid-March for European restaurant and hospitality business leaders. INTERNORGA, March 13-18, brought together some 1,300 exhibitors from 25 nations presenting equipment and supplies innovations at the Hamburg Fair exhibition space. Tabletop exhibitors were spotlighted on a pink-carpeted skywalk table in the glass bridge connecting the exhibiting halls….

April 21, 2015

Pollo Campero Eyes Texas

The Guatemalan chicken chain, already operating in a dozen countries, is seeing strong sales in Texas and will expand its footprint from two to five stores in Houston, which has the third largest Latino population in the U.S. More than a third of the city’s metro-area population is Latino, and 13% of those are Central…

April 21, 2015

Shanghai’s Hotelex 2015 Attendance Reached Nearly 100,000

Professional visitor attendance rose 18.3% at the 24th running of the Shanghai Int’l. Hotel Equipment and Supply Expo, also known as Hotelex 2015. The annual trade show, organized by the China Tourism Hotel Association and Shanghai UBM Sinoexpo, attracted 96,508 attendees to Hotelex and its concurrent shows, which cover 15 different themed sectors, including foodservice…