Pancake House expands to UAE, to open 8 stores

Casual dining brand Pancake House is expanding to the United Arab Emirates as part of the global expansion plan of homegrown restaurant chain, Max’s Group Inc. (MGI).

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

By bringing Pancake House to the Middle East, which hosts a big overseas Filipino community, MGI has taken another step closer to its goal of having an international footprint of 200 outlets by 2020.

The group has so far signed four overseas brand development deals this 2015.

“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 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.

Max’s has identified four brands from its vast portfolio that it would bring to more overseas locations in the years ahead—Max’s, Yellow Cab, Pancake House and Teriyaki Boy.

“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.

Pancake House’s local anchor in UAE is Lulu Group, a diversified group engaged in the businesses of retail, imports, exports, trading, shipping, information technology, tourism and education.

Since its establishment in 1996, it now has operations in 21 countries.

Lulu group’s latest venture into food and beverage, through Tablez Food Co., 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,” said Tablez Food Co. CEO Shafeena Yusuff Ali.

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

The integration of the Pancake House Group of companies with the Max’s restaurant group in June 2014 resulted in MGI becoming the country’s largest chain of full-service restaurant group in terms of revenues and store network.

The group owns and operates other restaurant brands, either directly or through subsidiaries, such as Dencio’s, Kabisera ng Dencio’s, Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak, Le Coeur De France and Maple.

It has also brought to the Philippines brands such as Krispy Kreme and Jamba Juice.