Al Farooj Fresh, a fast-casual restaurant chain owned by Al Islami Foods Group, has opened two new outlets at the Food Court of Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), Dubai.

The two branches offer a range of chicken grilled meals and shawarma sandwiches prepared in Arabic, Mexican, Italian and Lebanese recipes.

Al Farooj Fresh now has been expanded to total of 31 branches that include: 26 in UAE, one in Oman and four in Lebanon. Al Farooj plans to establish 10 more stores in and outside the UAE by the end of 2011, it said in a statement.

“Seeing the demand for eateries within the Jafza area, we decided to open two outlets together at old and new food courts of Jafza,” said Saleh Abdullah Lootah, managing director of Al Islami Foods Group.

“Due to a busy working style of the Free Zone area, we see it a highly potential area where consumers need these kinds of self-service restaurants, especially the Arab consumers."

“We have noticed the demand for Al Farooj has risen, and that encouraged us to continue our expansion plans despite the current financial crisis. We see now is the right time for brand development and expansion,” he added.

Al Farooj also offers its franchise, a complete business model based on return-on-investment, the statement said. – TradeArabia News Service