Pancake House goes to UAE

THE COUNTRY’S leading casual dining chain Max’s Group Inc. (MGI) is bringing the Pancake House brand to the United Arab Emirates as part of the group’s offshore expansion strategy.

MGI told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday that the group had signed a deal with Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group to build at least eight Pancake House restaurants in the UAE in the next five years.

This will mark the debut of Pancake House in the UAE, a Middle Eastern territory with a big overseas Filipino worker community.

“We are pleased with the opportunity to further broaden our reach in the UAE this time around for Pancake House. We are excited with our partnership with Lulu Group, an established retailer with a storied and rich history of success, to serve our products to the Emiratis,” MGI president and chief executive officer (CEO) Robert Trota said in a press statement.

“We are also encouraged that our international campaign has received strong interest from a number of potential foreign partners. This can be attributed to the strength of our diverse portfolio of brands catering to various markets and tastes, anchored on a solid and well-organized MGI support system,” Trota said.

MGI has so far signed four brand development agreement this 2015. The company plans to have at least 200 international outlets by 2020 across its brands.

“For this year, we were initially aiming at closing (deals in) at least two territories. With this, we were able to exceed our targets,” Trota added.

Established in 1996, Lulu Group is a highly diversified group based in UAE engaged in the businesses of retail, imports, exports, trading, shipping, information technology, tourism and education, with operations spanning across 21 countries. Its latest venture into food and beverage, through Tablez Food Company, has created its own portfolio of restaurants, cafes and ice cream stores coupled with international franchised brands in the Middle East and India.

“We at Tablez have always believed in bringing in unique brands from around the world in the evolving and highly competitive food and beverage sector in the gulf region. I am absolutely delighted in partnering with Pancake House, one of the most popular brands from the Philippines. I am also excited about the fact that UAE and the gulf region is home to a large Filipino community and a brand like Pancake House will be a big hit and also gives us a chance to present this brand to other diverse nationalities residing here,” Tablez Food Co. CEO Shafeena Yusuff Ali said.

Pancake House is a homegrown pioneer in the pancakes and waffle dining concept. It currently operates a network of 123 branches including nine franchised outlets located in Malaysia and Brunei.