Hotbrands International (HBI) has announced a joint venture with top Saudi retailer Al Sawani Group.

They aim to open 50 HBI outlets in Saudi Arabia over the next 18 months.

Under the agreement, the new proposed joint venture company-Hot Brands Saudi Arabia will hold the franchise rights to operate well-known quick service restaurant outlets of HBI like Shamiana (Indian food), Magic Wok (Chinese), Santino’s (Italian) and Sugoi (Japanese), as well as casual dining restaurant Pane Caldo (Italian) and Da Shi Dai,  which serves Chinese food.

The new outlets in Saudi Arabia will be located in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinnah, Dammam, Khobar, Al Ehsa and Al Rabwa. At least 12 of these outlets will open in the next 4 months. 

Dubai’s Hotbrands International (HBI) is a leading food services company in the Middle East.

HBI develops, operates and markets a unique range of ethnic food restaurants in both Quick Service (QSR) and Casual Dining (CDR) restaurant formats.

Currently, these restaurants include Indian, Chinese, Italian, Thai and Japanese cuisine which reflect the flavors and cultures of the countries they represent.

As a marketer and distributor, the Al Sawani Group holds the exclusive distribution rights to over 30 world-renowned brand names covering fashion, accessories and home collection goods.

The Al Sawani Group has also established a powerful retail network encompassing various concepts and incorporating over 450 free standing and department stores across the 14 Middle Eastern countries.

International brands under the Al Sawani Group include Esprit, GUESS, United Colours of Benetton, Max Mara, Go Sport, Red Earth, Replay, G2000, La Perla and Sfera.

Starting from humble beginnings in Dubai as a small proprietorship in May 1992, HBI has grown remarkably and now operates 50 outlets to date.

With new branded dining concepts, HBI is on course to grow exponentially to reach the target of 150 outlets in 2008.

At present HBI operates eight branded dining concepts, five of them in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) format - and three in the Casual Dining Restaurant (CDR) format.

Avinash Bal, vice-chairman and CEO of Hotbrands International (HBI), said:

“As a home-grown success story out of Dubai, HBI is expanding internationally rapidly, moving into new locations that have tremendous potential, in line with its vision to become a world leader in the multi-brand ethnic restaurant industry.

“As we continue to grow our presence throughout the Middle East and across the world, we will seek to identify strong partners.

“There is huge potential for growing our business in Saudi Arabia, and in the Al Sawani Group, we have found the perfect partner to support this growth.

“Both companies will be able to further combine and consolidate their synergies as a result of this significant tie-up.

“Our strategic partnership with the Al Sawani Group, a renowned and respected business house, will also enable us to relate, and be more responsive to the changing dynamics and needs of a massive market like Saudi Arabia.”

Mohammed A Hafiz of the Al Sawani Group, said:

“By entering into a joint venture with Hotbrands International (HBI), a reputed food services company in the region, the Al Sawani Group has underlined its  commitment to providing its customers access to a diversified basket of authentic retail products and brands.

“We are looking forward to offering our experience and expertise to market the unique range of ethnic cuisine concepts from HBI.

“With our strong and well established network  we are confident of successfully introducing these food concepts to the potentially vast customer base that exists in Saudi Arabia.”

From its base in the UAE where a majority of its outlets are located, HBI has a presence in neighbouring cou