Jumeirah Group's dedicated restaurant division, The Taste Department signs a license agreement with Zahdan Retail Private Limited that will see the noodle house expand into Pakistan
Dubai, July 3rd 2008: The Taste Department, the dedicated branded restaurant division within the Jumeirah Group tasked to set up and license innovative and successful casual dining restaurant concepts to partners worldwide, has signed a license agreement with Zahdan Retail Private Limited that will see 12 noodle house restaurants opening in Pakistan over the next five years.
Steven Grey, The Taste Department's General Manager & Chief Taster said: "The noodle house's vibrant atmosphere and delicious fresh food inspired by exciting South East Asian cities including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok and Jakarta is one of Dubai's most popular places to meet and eat. With outlets now open across the UAE and Jordan, the noodle house's famous Shanghai Beef Noodles are speedily sizzling around the world".
He added: "The continued expansion of the noodle house is a high priority for The Taste Department and this strategic license agreement with Zahdan Retail Private Limited is yet another significant step forward in the division's plan to license 100 noodle house restaurants worldwide by 2012".
Murtaza Hashwani, Chairman and CEO of Zahdan Group said: "It is a great pleasure for us to enter into this strategic business partnership with the dynamic Jumeirah Group to bring the leading and popular South-East Asian noodle house cuisine to the fast growing food and hospitality market in Pakistan".
He added: "We are excited about this opportunity and the roll-out of noodle house outlets across the major cities in Pakistan is a high priority for us. We are committed and will endeavor to replicate the success of the noodle house concept to provide food connoisseurs here in Pakistan the same high quality food & service standards of the noodle house brand as experienced in Dubai and the Middle East. We feel both the casual and fine dining food services market is grossly under developed and there exists excellent business potential for the noodle house in Pakistan. The first noodle house outlet is to open in the food lovers city of Lahore by the last quarter of this year followed by Karachi, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Islamabad".
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About The Taste Department
The Taste Department is the dedicated branded restaurant division within the Jumeirah Group tasked to set up and license innovative and successful casual dining restaurant concepts to partners worldwide. In two short years, the division has rapidly expanded the noodle house, Sana Bonta and Bytes restaurants from its home in Dubai to a total of eight countries in the Gulf and Asia.
The first restaurant brand to be developed under the division was the noodle house, a vibrant casual dining restaurant where chefs prepare aromatic South East Asian dishes within minutes over an open flame and in full view of the guests. The noodle house will continue to grow exponentially over the coming years with master license agreements already signed in the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon and India.
A second concept, Sana Bonta, which literally translates to 'wholesome goodness' in Italian, was launched in April 2007 with the very first outlet open in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and master license agreements about to be signed in two locations outside of the UAE. This modern eatery with stylishly informal ambience is undoubtedly Italian where you can make your own menu, choosing from a wide selection of fresh, high quality ingredients cooked to perfection to create a multitude of antipasti dishes, fresh pasta, giant salads and wood fired pizza exactly to your liking.
The third concept, Bytes, The Taste Department's 'grab and go' deli concept mirrors the urban cool of a New York City deli. It is serving busy Dubians everyday with five outlets open or under construction in Dubai as well as a license agreement in Bahrain.
A brand new concept, The Flaming Revolution is a modern trendy and fast service rotisserie style restaurant that will bring back memories of how good food used to taste with uncomplicated food and natural wholesome flavour. Rice & Spice is a fast, noisy and authentically buzzing casual restaurant with eclectic cuisine inspired by the North and South of India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Both The Flaming Revolution and Rice & Spice will open at the Dubai Outsource Zone in September 2008.
About Zahdan Retail Private Limited
Zahdan Retail Private Limited and Zahdan Technologies Private Limited (Zahdan Group) has been formed to bring and operate franchises of innovative, proven and successful brands/concepts in the retail business areas of food & hospitality, fashion, and technology etc.,. The vision is to become a market leader in the retail services industry and provide the general public with product and service choices. At present Zahdan Retail owns and operates the Bateel franchise in addition to the Noodle House. Zahdan Technologies is the franchise partner of Tejari.com the Middle East's premier B2B e-marketplace and aims to become Pakistan's single point of online trade for businesses through various online 'market making' and procurement solutions. Zahdan Retail has chalked out an ambitious retail business plan and is currently in the process of bringing global brands to Pakistan.
For further information please contact:
Jumeirah Group Corporate Communications
Anne Bleeker - Director of Corporate Communications
PO Box 214159
Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Telephone: +971 4 3647970
Fax: +971 4 3016655
E-mail: anne.bleeker@jumeirah.com
Website: www.jumeirah.com
© Press Release 2008
