Baskin-Robbins opened its 450th store in the Middle East region at the Palm Jumeirah in line with its plan to reach close to 500 stores by end of the year.

Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Brands ( the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins brands), Srinivas Kumar, chief brand officer, Baskin-Robbins Worldwide, and, John Varghese, managing director for Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia led the celebrations.

Joining them during the opening ceremony and at the following press conference were Khaled Soliman, Group COO of Galadari Brothers Group and Manoj Loya, general manager of Galadari Ice Cream Company (GICC), the licensee for the brand in the GCC.

'As a franchisor, we stand on the shoulders of our franchise partners to build our brand. We congratulate our partner, the GICC, along with its management team on the 450th store opening in the Middle East.'

'This milestone is exciting for all of us and it would not have been possible without the hard work and support of this tremendous team.  We thank GICC for their dedication, passion and commitment, and most importantly, their partnership over the past 30 years,” said Travis.

“Our commitment to public is to serve premium quality Baskin-Robbins ice cream no matter where they are in the GCC. We are proud to reach a landmark 450 stores all over the Gulf and there are more coming up,' said Soliman.

'This is a great opportunity for us to thank our loyal customers who take on scoop by scoop of their favorite flavours at Baskin-Robbins,' he added.

The GICC said the company's year-to-date sales have increased by over 20 per cent compared to 2008.

'In June alone, six new stores have been opened by the company across the region. GICC also plans to open 45 new stores in the region and is looking at entering new markets across Africa and Middle East,' Loya said.

'We are on an aggressive stance to pursue our expansion plans in spite of the general economic slowdown. We are confident of a sooner-than-expected turnaround in the region,' Loya stated.

'As such, GICC’s expansion includes diversifying across new store formats such as Café Baskin Robbins and BR Express with an aim to bring new and exciting ice cream and dessert based product experiences for our customers,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service