Big menu: Tashas Group is planning to open two new Flamingo Rooms next year.
With a presence in 24 countries, Nando’s is possibly the most successful South African restaurant brand to cross international waters. Tashas is slowly following the peri-peri chicken owner’s tail feathers as it sets its sights on an international expansion.
“We can only hope that we can emulate the success of Nando’s. However, our brands and
concepts are extremely different. We have large menus and a heavy staff complement so I doubt we will ever have anywhere near the number of locations and reach that they have. Our success will need to be measured in different ways,” said Natasha Sideris, the founder and chief executive of Tashas group.
Chief executive Natasha Sideris says they hope to follow Nandos’ success.
The South African family-owned business recently announced plans to expand its footprint by opening six new locations in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Kingdom. The expansion plans are to begin in the last quarter of 2022.
Sideris said the partnership with Famous Brands provided the group with the support to grow and franchise the Tashas brand locally and in the group’s early years in Dubai.
Famous Brands sold its controlling 51% stake in Tashas in 2020 after having the company in its portfolio from 2008.
“It is not necessarily true that we have only been able to expand to new locations only after we bought the controlling stake from Famous Brands. Since buying back the group from Famous Brands in 2020, we have been moving forward both locally, and on the international hospitality scene with both tashas and our other concepts. We have now reached the point where we are able to make significant strides in our expansion plans,” Sideris said.
Tashas has 15 locations in South Africa and nine in the UAE.
When Famous Brands disposed of Tashas it said the sale was in line with its three year strategy that includes a narrower focus of investment of resources in its’ portfolio.
At the time Famous Brands was struggling with its signature brands portfolio and said in its annual results ending in February 2020 it “struggled in an over-traded market segment” and that it would exit non-performing brands and non-viable sites.
Sideris said: “The financial result in 2019, for the year-ending February 2020, was one of our strongest years [while still under Famous Brands] and for 2022 we are already 5% up on pre-Covid-19 levels. We have always controlled our brand operationally and nothing has changed from that point of view.”
The Tashas group will open the Flamingo Room by Tashas in Saudi Arabia and in Abu Dhabi in 2023. A new Tashas will open in Lynnwood Bridge in Pretoria before the end of this year and the group is “close to finalising details” on its first location in London, with the intention of rolling out more.
Nala, a fast food restaurant, will open in Al Serkal in Dubai in early 2023 while Bungalo34, a beachside restaurant, will open in the fourth quarter of 2022 at the Pearl Jumeirah in Dubai.
The group is also in talks to open a food and retail emporium called Le Parc by Tashas in the UAE. The first Le Parc by Tashas opened in Johannesburg’s Hyde Park Corner in 2021.
Sideris said the group’s international expansion plans have been underway for some time because they have always known there was a limit to how many Tashas they could open in the South African market, given that they didn’t want to be a mass brand.
“We chose Dubai for our first foray internationally because it is in an optimal time zone to South Africa and it was a quick flight away. The culture is also similar; we have a driving culture, a mall culture and not a walking one. As well, my Greek culture shares similarities with the Arabic culture; being hospitable and giving abundantly and a great love of feeding people.
The group’s entry into the UAE was in 2014.
“Just as we saw a gap in the market then, we see it now — there is international demand for food that is of excellent quality. We have been able to bring this to life in a number of brands and concepts specific to each country and target market,” Sideris said.
In terms of which market the group will prioritise, Sideris said: “We hope to see the group operating between 50 and 70 restaurants within the next five to 10 years — more than double its current number — both locally and abroad. We are also cautious of oversaturating the SA market and will most likely cap the number of tashas restaurants at 20 — which, interestingly, was the number I had in mind when we first began our partnership with Famous Brands in 2008.”
When it comes to the flavour of the group’s operations abroad, they will not significantly portray an authentically South African experience.
“Our brands are not specifically South African. Tashas has always had an international feeling but with the heartbeat of South Africa. Ensuring that the heart and soul of our birthplace and foundation — South Africa — is taken to the world is important to us. Two of the biggest challenges to growth are the erosion of our culture and lack of training, two things we are heavily focused on in maintaining and improving.”
Sideris noted that for their new concepts they will be using a number of South African artists and artisans, who they have worked with in South Africa, to build their global stores.
People walk past a Nando’s in London, England. (Carl Court/Getty Images)
“Many of our team members from South Africa are working in our international locations in the interests of job creation and skills.”
The business is run out of Dubai with Sideris.
Rosebank shooting
A month ago a man was shot dead at Tashas in Rosebank Mall while waiting for his order.
The man was reported to be businessman Jason Lambe. The motive for his murder is unknown.
Sideris said the group strongly condemns gun violence, the tragic loss of life and the trauma the incident caused its team and customers.
“Sadly, this could have happened at any restaurant and thankfully, it has not affected our business. It has, however, prompted Rosebank Mall to look at new ways of
increasing security. No one could have prevented this incident and it is by no means a common occurrence. We are assisting with the ongoing investigation where we can.”
Anathi Madubela is an Adamela Trust business reporter at the M&G.
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