New Zealand’s Burger Fuel chain of restaurants, known for its grass fed halal meat, will open 15 outlets in the UAE, within the next five years.

The first outlet has been opened at The Walk, Jumeirah Breach Residence and a second one is to start construction shortly on Sheikh Zayed Road, a company statement said.

This follows the signing of an exclusive UAE franchise agreement between Burger Fuel Worldwide Limited (BFW), the owner of leading trademarks for gourmet burger restaurants which is listed on the New Zealand stock exchange, and Al Khayyat Investments, a leading Dubai holding company that represents more than 150 top international brands across the Middle East.

Al Khayyat Investments, based in Dubai, has multiple interests across retail, distribution and services sectors. The holding company manages leading international food and beverage brands like IL Caffe Di Roma, Esspression, TigerWok and the newly added Burger Fuel.

The opening of the first Burger Fuel outlet in Dubai is the New Zealand company’s second Middle Eastern territory to be opened in 2010, the first being the hugely successful Al Khobar store in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

The first Burger Fuel outlet in Dubai is located in the heart of Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR), a 2 million sq m beachfront community boasting 39 residential towers, 4 hotels and 4 beach clubs. The sought-after location is ideal for the Burger Fuel brand’s launch.

“We are extremely excited to have opened our first Burger Fuel store in the UAE in cooperation with Al Khayyat Investments. Dubai is a multicultural city with people of more than 100 nationalities living in harmony,” said Chris Mason, managing director, international markets, Burger Fuel Worldwide.

“The UAE market carries lot of potential and we consider it a platform to demonstrate the quality and unique experience we offer to customers worldwide,” he added.

Josef Roberts, managing director, Burger Fuel Worldwide, said: “Our expansion plan is more of a combination of fun and irreverent marketing campaigns. We pride ourselves in creating the perfect environment for franchisees to grow and enjoy their business.”

Burger Fuel’s UAE Master Franchisee, Al Khayyat Investments has undertaken the development of the first store in conjunction with the Burger Fuel Worldwide GCC team and will continue to roll out more stores within the UAE.

Clive Stanley, retail CEO of Al Khayyat Investments, said: “We are proud to bring such an exciting brand to the UAE. Dubai is a bridge for Burger Fuel, to reach other markets of the Arab world. Being a group that represents a variety of brands, we are delighted to add Burger Fuel to the portfolio of brands we represent in the region.”

Burger Fuel exports all its grass feed beef  which is 100 per cent halal from New Zealand to all its outlets across the world, an evidence of the company’s commitment to ensure high quality and uniform standards across the countries it is present in, according to the statement.

“The newly opened Burger Fuel store in JBR represents the latest in the Burger Fuel design series and incorporates many features that reinforce the company’s vision to “engineering the ultimate burger” for its customers across the world,” added Stanley. – TradeArabia News Service