The South African based international restaurant chain Spur Corporation signed a contract with Ethiopian Cucina Trading Plc. paving the way for the international franchise restaurant to be opened within six months. On April 14, 2015 the two companies signed the franchise agreement at Hilton Hotel. Cucina Trading will own the restaurant and Spur Corporation will be in charge of its management. “When Cucina shared the values of Spur Corporation International, it has focused on its brands, Spur Steaks Ranches Specialty steak restaurant, and Panarottis and Hussar Grill,” said Mulugeta Demissie, Managing Director of Cucina Trading at the signing ceremony.
“We prefer Spur because they have similar tastes with Ethiopian eating culture,” Mulugeta said. He told Capital that the first facility that will be opened within six months will be Spur Steaks Ranches Specialty steak restaurant.
The restaurant that specializes in steak will have dining rooms suited for families and a secured playing area for kids in the restaurant which will be centered at Bole Medhanialem area on Abyssinia Plaza building. The restaurant that specialized in Italian pizza and pasta, Panarottis, will be the second facility that will be opened by Cucina Trading and Spur. Mulugeta said that his company has already selected the location for the Italian specialty eatery around Bole Medhanialem which will be opened within a year time. A VIP restaurant that will be expected to be opened after the two canteens will focuse on offering a VIP hospitality business for the capital city that has become one of the major diplomatic centers in the world. “Even though Addis Ababa’s prominence is growing in the diplomatic world, safe dining facilities were not that much observed,” Mulugeta said. He said that Hussar Grill restaurant will be established on Spur standards fitted with apple security facilities to be a right choice for dignitaries and senior executives of the business community.
As our country has more of the magnet become for international tourists as well as foreign direct investment, with the continued commitment of our government in investing heavily in improved public infrastructures and building a stable nation building, we could definitely see the path of being a middle income country in the near future, where we could also tap in opportunities by opening more Spur restaurants across Ethiopia, Mulugeta remarked. Cucina will have employees trained abroad prior to the opening of the facilities and it will have hiring potential of 60 Ethiopians on its initial stage. “Ethiopia holds many opportunities for entrepreneurs like us. Spur International plans to have 100 restaurants in Africa outside of South Africa within five years, so it makes sense for us to have a presence in one of Africa’s fastest growing economies,” Pierre van Tonder, CEO of Spur Corporation said.
The company has 39 restaurants in 12 African countries and it will soon be opening another two in Arusha, as well as one each in Kenya and Zambia. The agreement confirms that Cucina’s commitment to open at least seven outlets in the next seven years. Currently, only three international brand hotels operate in the country, while about three others are in the pipe line to join the hospitality industry. Spur Group consists of Spur International, Spur Steak Ranches, Panarottis Pizza Pasta, John Dory’s Fish, Grill & Sushi, Captain DoRegos and The Hussar Grill. It currently has 490 outlets worldwide, with restaurants in various parts of Africa, Mauritius, the UK and Australia. These can be broken down into 318 Spur Steak Ranches, 79 Panarottis Pizza and Pasta outlets, 33 John Dory’s restaurants, 63 Captain DoRegos outlets, and 8 franchises of The Hussar Grill.
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