An existing Yellow Cab Pizza restaurant in Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to where the Filipino brand expanded as early as in 2007.

By Arno Maierbrugger/Gulf Times Correspondent /Bangok


Philippine fast food chain Yellow Cab Pizza Company has embarked on an aggressive expansion drive in the Middle East, saying it plans to open 10 restaurant outlets in the UAE within the next five years and another 15 in Saudi Arabia within 10 years. The brand is already established in Qatar where it started in 2007 with two stores and meanwhile operates six outlets. Eventually, the group aims to operate 31 branches in the Middle East, adding to more than 110 stores it currently runs in the Philippines, Malaysia, the US and Guam, says Robert F Trota, CEO of Manila-based and stock exchange-listed brand owner Max’s Group Inc, the largest casual dining restaurant company in the Philippines.
In the UAE, Max’s Group entered a franchise partnership with Dubai-headquartered Cartoon Fashion Group to set up the Yellow Cab restaurants. Cartoon Fashion Group is a fashion retailer with renowned brands such as Adidas, Ed Hardy and French Connection and also runs food and beverage outlets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Yellow Cab has been quite successful in Qatar where its delivery drivers are easily identifiable by the yellow Vespa scooters they are using. Franchise partner for the six Qatari outlets – in Souq Al Ali, Markhiya, Muaither, Dar Al Salam Mall, Parco Mall and Umm Salal – is Doha-based food franchise Silver Group, which also operates the Si El Sayed Restaurant, a fine dining brand located on Pearl-Qatar that focuses on Egyptian cuisine.
For Yellow Cab Pizza’s store expansion this year alone the company has earmarked a budget which covers around 80 new openings in the Philippines and new stores in Malaysia, the US (California, Hawaii) and Canada. According to Trota, the company already built 20 stores in the first six months of the year and is now also looking into the possibility to expand to Indonesia and Brunei.
Established in 2001, Yellow Cab Pizza is not just targeting pizza lovers, but also offers a number of other dishes including pastas and a selection of appetisers and desserts which are targeting Asians, Arabs, as well as Europeans. The restaurant said it will also introduce a Lebanese style pizza to tickle the local palate.
Max’s Group got hold of the Yellow Cab brand after the acquisition of Filipino competitor Pancake House Inc in 2014 and soon after in a share swap deal created the Philippines’ largest casual dining restaurant group. The consolidation brought together 14 brands that gave the group a 28.3%-share of the full-service restaurant market in the country. The brands are Max’s Restaurant, Max’s Corner Bakery, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Pancake House, Yellow Cab, Le Coeur De France, Maple, Dencio’s, Kabisera, Teriyaki Boy, Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak, The Chicken Rice Shop and Singkit, altogether currently comprising more than 500 outlets locally and 25 branches overseas.
Of these brands, Max’s Group has identified four that it finds more suitable for overseas expansion. They are – apart from Yellow Cab – Max’s Restaurant, Pancake House and Teriyaki Boy. While the flagship brand Max’s will continue to target Filipino communities, the three other brands are seen appealing to a broader market overseas and not just Filipino overseas communities, Trota says.