Dining Out
Another positive sign for the Egyptian economy is the increased popularity of dining out. One company that was among the fi rst to recognize this trend was Sewedy Foods. Part of Sewedy Industries, which began as a small electrical appliance company, Sewedy Foods is involved in restaurant management. Only three years old, the company has shown phenomenal growth. Its restaurants include those that are household names in the United States: McDonald’s, Chili’s, Friday’s and KFC. Others include Wessya, a McDonald’s-type restaurant with a multinational image and Sbarro, an Italian pizza restaurant. Sewedy is also opening a new line of coffee shops under
the brand name Cilantro and a chain of gourmet Mexican restaurants known as Cantina Laredo. Long-range plans call for the opening of two other American standbys – Joe’s Crab Shack and the Rainforest Café, found already in many prime U.S. tourist destinations.
Why did Sewedy Industries decide to go into the restaurant business? According to Ahmed El Aawar, who heads Sewedy Foods, "As in the U.S., food service is a recession-proof industry. When the economy is up people eat out. When the economy goes down, the mother works and there’s less time at home to prepare food." In addition, El Aawar said that the business "does not need a lot of technology, is cash-based, requires minimal capital investment and labor resources are abundant."
The high-profit, low-investment portfolio mix of Sewedy Foods has allowed it to make a substantial dent (10 percent) in the $70 million Egyptian food service industry. And when the executives say low investment, they are talking approximately 60 percent of the cost of a similar investment in the United States. For example, to build a Rainforest Café in Egypt will cost $2.5 million versus the $4 million for a similar restaurant in the United States, said El Aawar.
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
Previous Page
