Mon 6th Feb 2017 - Casual Dining Group signs 20-site plus South Africa franchise deal Casual Dining Group signs 20-site plus South Africa franchise deal: Casual Dining Group (CDG), the operator of nearly 300 mid-market restaurant brands including Café Rouge, Bella Italia and Las Iguanas, has agreed a landmark franchising deal that will see a minimum 20 restaurants open across South Africa in the next five years with Gold Brands Investments. Gold Brands, which is based in Pretoria and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s AltX board, operates five restaurant brands of its own, including 1+1 Pizza, Chicken Wild Wings and Chesanyama, which features dishes cooked on a braai, Afrikaans for grill. The company says it wants to offer customers ‘unique and authentic brands’, and aims to become South Africa’s leading franchise company. Founded by Stelio Nathanael and his wife, Praxia, in 2012, Gold Brands has more than 330 restaurants across South Africa’s nine provinces, including the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Kwazulu-Natal, and is described as a ‘major player’ in the country’s restaurant sector. A CDG spokesman said: “CDG is delighted to partner a restaurant company with a similar ethos to itself and is looking forward to working with Stelio and Praxia Nathanael in rolling the brands out throughout the country. Gold Brands Investments will exclusively introduce Bella, Café Rouge, Las Iguanas and Belgo outlets to South Africa, with the first scheduled to open by the end of this year. The move is in line with CDG’s overseas franchising strategy, which has already seen it open a restaurant in each of India and Dubai, with a further restaurant under construction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The group is exploring further franchising opportunities in the United Arab Emirates, the Far East, Europe and North Africa.” Mark Nelson, CDG managing director of concessions and franchising, added: “South Africa hadn’t been part of our three-phase franchising strategy, until we were contacted by Stelio and we quickly identified a great opportunity, and both parties moved to agree the deal. The social demographic and cultural fit between our restaurants, South African consumers’ diet, plus the country’s acceptance of casual dining, means it is a very exciting market for us. It also complements our franchising plans in other overseas locations, particularly North Africa, and will help us achieve our initial target of 100-plus overseas outlets, as we continue to seek other partners interested in franchise agreements with CDG.” Stelio Nathanael, Gold Brands chief operating officer, added: “We went to CDG because we saw their restaurant businesses as being perfect for the market here, with customers always looking for new dining experiences. CDG’s restaurants fit, too, with Gold Brands’ existing brand portfolio. We’ll work closely with CDG to localise the outlets, and will use our experience and local market knowledge to ensure we put the right restaurants in the right locations. This is a really exciting opportunity for both parties, and we’re aiming to have a first outlet open by the end of 2017.”