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Tag: Ihop

  • Ihop Pakistan franchise deal got signed

    Ihop Pakistan franchise deal got signed

    Dine Brands Global has announced a deal with several principals of Gerry’s Group, a leading logistics and F&B group, to launch Ihop Pakistan.

    The deal calls for 19 Ihop locations throughout the country over the next nine years, nine of which will be franchised by the principals of Gerry’s Group with the other 10 sub-franchised. The first location is expected to open in Karachi by the end of this year and continues the brand’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific market.

    Ihop, founded in 1958, has been a global brand since 1969. It already has a presence in India, Thailand and Guam as well as 11 other countries and Puerto Rico.

    “My commitment as CEO of Dine Brands Global was to return it to a growth company, and our international development is certainly a major component of that growth,” said Steve Joyce. “Key to our international strategy is identifying and entering new markets, such as Pakistan, that have a rapidly growing economy, are contiguous to existing markets to offer an economy of scale, and above all, have an appetite for Ihop’s unique guest experience of warm hospitality with world famous pancakes, breakfast and other menu items.

    “The opportunity to partner with principals from Gerry’s Group as franchisees was also a major factor in our decision. Under their ownership, Gerry’s Group is an experienced, established company based in Pakistan with multinational experience across a broad number of industries as well as food and beverage, including operating and owning 40 Costa Coffee locations in the UK.”

    “The principals of Gerry’s Group bring a strong track record of success with global brands,” added the firm’s regional VP and GM, Asia Pacific and the Middle East Gary Moore. “They bring an infrastructure – and the shared values and commitment to excellence – that will be key to introducing Ihop in this exciting new country for us.”

    “We have had a lot of interest in Pakistan from potential franchisees and while it fits perfectly with our expansion strategy in the region, we wanted to be sure we found the strongest partner in the country to take that step,” said Dine Brands executive director, international, development Dan Lecocq. “Gerry’s Group brings exactly the qualities and qualifications we look for in every franchisee as we look to continue our expansion here and in our other international areas of opportunity.”

    MD for Gerry’s Group, Akram Wali Muhammad, said that while Ihop will be a new brand in Pakistan, there is already significant awareness of and excitement about the brand. “We look forward to the opening of our first location later this year.”

    Asia Pacific has been targeted as a key area of growth for Dine Brands, along with Latin America, Canada and the Middle East. The company has already signed deals to bring the Ihop brand to South America this year in Peru and Ecuador, and to expand its presence in Canada to Atlantic provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

    Dine Brands is also actively exploring opportunities to take the Ihop brand to the UK.

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  • Ihop opens third outlets in Thailand

    Ihop opens third outlets in Thailand

    American all-day breakfast restaurant chain Ihop Thailand has opened its third outlet, in the Mega Banga Mall.

    Located on the ground floor of the Foodwalk Zone, the new outlet spreads over 167sqm of interior space with an additional 92sqm of terrace, and can seat 88 guests.

    Guests will be able to enjoy Ihop’s buttermilk pancakes, waffles and omelets as well as burgers and beverages.

    Ihop was brought to Thailand last year by King of Pancakes, with the first outlet located in Bangkok’s Siam Paragon Mall.

    The chain expects to open 10th location by 2021.

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  • IHOP makes waves with name-change mystery

    IHOP makes waves with name-change mystery

    US-headquartered pancake restaurant Ihop drew a massive social media backlash after announcing it was changing its brand to Ihob – with the b for burgers.

    But the Ihop name change turned out to be a publicity stunt – to try to share the message amongst the ranks of American fast-food fans that the ubiquitous chain was just as good at making burgers as its trademark, calorie-laden pancakes.

    So while the company had to fend off thousands of criticisms from its customers – most of whom failed to read the small print in the announcement that it was a “temporary” change – the subsequent publicity ensured there will be few people across America this morning who don’t know that Ihop – or Ihob – serves burgers as well as pancakes.

    “@IHOb the b stands for blasphemy,” tweeted one dismayed customer. Another said it stood for “international house of betrayal”.

    “The world is spiraling out of control and I can’t understand why IHOP would force us to deal with more unwelcome change,” said another. And yet another: “Why is ihop going thru a mid life crisis.”

    Rival chains climbed on the bandwagon with some good-natured jibes, as well:

    “Not really afraid of the burgers from a place that decided pancakes were too hard,” tweeted Wendy’s.

    And Whataburger tweeted: “As much as we love our pancakes, we’d never change our name to Whatapancake”.

    Guessing game

    Prior to the Ihop name change the company held an online survey, teasing the new Ihob name and inviting people to guess what the b stood for. More than 30,000 people guessed words ranging from bananas to bacon, brunch to breakfast.

    After the furore, Ihop president Darren Rebelez told CNN (yes, he go onto CNN – that’s how successful this PR stunt was!) the company will always be named Ihop, “but we want to convey that we are taking our burgers as seriously as our pancakes”.

    “Burgers are a quintessential, American menu item so it makes perfect sense that Ihop … would go over the top to create a delicious lineup of quality burgers,” added Nevielle Panthaky, the chain’s “culinary chief”.

    Ihop, which turned 60 this year, has nearly 1800 locations across the US, including a flagship in Hollywood, California, which was converted into an Ihob for yesterday’s brand launch party.

    Unsurprisingly, marketing experts were heaping praise on Ihop.

    “Credit to IHOP: They’re garnering more media attention than the moon landing for adding seven hamburgers to their menu,” wrote Kevinwxgg in a tweet, quoted by the Washington Post in a story headlined “IHOP’s name change is what happens when brands exploit the Internet outrage cycle”.

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