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Duck Donuts to open locations in the Middle East
Cumberland County-based made-to-order donut franchise company Duck Donuts is expanding its reach to the Middle East.
The fast-growing fast food company with its headquarters in Lower Allen Township announced Wednesday that it signed two master franchise agreements, awarding the rights to develop and sub franchise in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Anjal Arabia Trading & Contracting Co. will open 10 locations throughout Saudi Arabia over the next five years, company representatives said, with the first location expected to open in early 2020 in the country’s capital, Riyadh.
Gold Peak Coffee Shop LLC has also signed a master franchise agreement to sub franchise Duck Donuts locations to the UAE, with the first store planned for Dubai.
“We are delighted to enter into this relationship with Anjal Arabia Trading & Contracting Co. and Gold Peak Coffee Shop LLC, expanding our Duck Donuts brand to countries that demonstrate a strong family culture and an enjoyment for coffee and sweets,” said Russ DiGilio, Duck Donuts founder and CEO. “Through this master franchise agreement, we believe this will continue to generate interest in the Gulf Cooperation Council, giving us the opportunity to further enhance the Duck Donuts presence in the Middle East.”
The foreign Duck Donuts locations mark the third time this year the franchise has been taken out of the U.S. The company announced in January that a location would be opening in Santiago, Chile. Another announcement in February indicated three locations would open in Puerto Rico over the next three years.
DiGilio said the long-term goal of the company is to expand globally with restaurants in Mexico, Canada and the Dominican Republic and also to the West Coast of the U.S. Its expansion into the Middle East fit with that goal.
“We love the always fresh and customizable approach,” said Mohammed Albaqami, Duck Donuts master franchisee of UAE. “This will be a totally new concept for the Saudi and UAE consumer and one we’re sure will become a major success within the region as well as a chief competitor in the donut and coffee industry.”
Duck Donuts was founded by Digilio in Duck, N.C. in 2007. It opened its first franchise location in Williamsburg, Va. in 2013 and now operates 83 locations across 26 states and two countries.
