Sbarro will partner with the Italian Restaurant Developers de Mexico and Egypt's Sewedy Foods to open more than 50 new Sbarro restaurants during the next five years, including 30 locations in Mexico and 20 restaurants in Egypt. Sbarro will be the first Italian franchise in both countries to offer a broad menu that includes pizza, pastas, salads, desserts and other Italian foods. While the Mexican and Egyptian menus will mirror Sbarro's 200-item menu in the United States, each franchiser will make adjustments to suit the likes and cultural and religious needs of their customers. Currently, Sbarro has 1,000 restaurants in 30 counties across the globe including in the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Canada, Russia and Israel.
"We are very excited to grow Sbarro's international presence with 50 new locations across both Mexico and Egypt, and are proud to partner with top restaurateurs in the Italian Restaurant Developers de Mexico and Sewedy Foods," said Peter Beaudrault, president and CEO of Sbarro. "For 50 years, Sbarro has been synonymous with delicious and authentic Italian food, both at home in the U.S. and overseas. We have an international franchise team that is among the best in the business and a concept that for decades has proven to be remarkably adaptable and successful across all continents and in virtually every world culture."
As part of the agreement with Italian Restaurant Developers de Mexico, Sbarro will open nine Mexican franchises by the end of 2006 with 21 more anticipated openings in the next five years. During the early stages of expansion, the restaurants will be concentrated in Mexico City and its surrounding metropolitan areas, with growth into other cities planned for the following years. While there will be two free-standing Mexican Sbarro franchises, the majority of the restaurants will be housed in shopping malls including Plaza Satelite, the nation's most popular shopping mall and Antara Polanco, a high-end mall slated to open in March of 2006. The Mexican Sbarro menu will be tropicalized to include chorizo and other authentic Mexican flavors.
Separately, Sbarro and Sewedy Foods expect to open six locations in Egypt by the end of 2006, with plans for 14 additional restaurants over the next five years. The Sbarro eateries will all be located in Cairo with the exception of a single restaurant located in the Red Sea tourist area. In keeping with the Islamic faith, the Egypt-based Sbarro restaurants will not use pork in any recipes or serve alcoholic beverages.
"Sbarro is a concept that has succeeded throughout the world and we expect that these new franchises will be very warmly embraced by Egyptian consumers," said Ahmed El Aawar, chief executive officer of Sewedy Foods. "We've enjoyed working with the franchise team at Sbarro to deliver a restaurant experience that reflects the company's proven formula of providing an extended menu of authentic Italian food at a great value, while offering dishes that stay true to Egyptian flavors."
