KARACHI: The American pancake chain, International House of Pancakes (IHOP), will open its first restaurant in Karachi by the end of this month, the Pakistani business group bringing the famous breakfast menu to Pakistan said this week.
With a population of some 220 million people, Pakistan offers a huge market for consumer businesses, especially in the culinary sector that is a vital source of entertainment in the conservative Muslim nation of 220 million.
Almost all international food chains have a presence in the country.
An IHOP restaurant is seen in Baldwin Park, California August 2, 2011. (REUTERS)
In 2018, Dine Brands Global Incorporation, the California-based parent company of IHOP, announced a deal with Pakistani food and beverage giant Gerry’s Group to open 19 restaurants in Pakistan in the next five years as part of an Asia expansion plan.
“We are going ahead with the plan and the first of the IHOP restaurants will be launched in Pakistan by the end of this month,” Akram Wali Muhammad, managing director of Gerry’s Group, told Arab News on Wednesday. “Starting with Karachi, more restaurants will be opened in Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot, and Faisalabad.”
He said a bare minimum investment of around $22-25 million would be required to set up the 19 restaurants.
Muhammad said Pakistani businesses were bullish and gradually recovering after lockdowns imposed in March to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. “People are excited and we are on target,” he added. “The COVID-19 outbreak had slowed progress on the American pancake restaurant but now we are catching up again.”
The Internation House of Pancakes celebrates National Pancake Day by offering free pancakes to the community on in Harlingen, Texas, on March 3, 2015 (AP)
IHOP, founded in 1958, is already present in Thailand, India and Guam in the Asia Pacific region.
“Though IHOP will be a new brand in Pakistan,” Muhammad said, “there is already significant awareness of and excitement about IHOP.”
The decision to enter into the Pakistani market is a part of the American pancake restaurant’s “efforts to seek new revenue abroad,” Bloomberg reported last year.
“Key to our international strategy is identifying and entering new markets such as Pakistan that have a rapidly growing economy,” Dine Brands Global Chief Executive Officer Steve Joyce told media.
