Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza will be entering a development agreement with M.H. Alshaya Co. to create Blaze restaurants throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa.
M.H. Alshaya is a Kuwait-based franchise operator for brands such as Starbucks, P.F. Chang’s and Victoria’s Secret, in addition to more than 80 other brands.
“With its simple approach to fast, authentic, customizable pizza, we see a tremendous opportunity to build Blaze into the dominant pizza brand in the Middle East and throughout the region,” Executive Chairman of M.H. Alshaya Co. Mohammed Alshaya said.
The agreement would bring 100 restaurants to 11 countries, which would include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Morocco. The first five restaurants are slated to open in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in 2018. Up until this agreement, Blaze has been only in North America.
“For some time, we’ve been receiving requests to bring our brand to the Middle East,” said Rick Wetzel, co-founder of Blaze. “Now that we’ve partnered with Alshaya, we’re happy to say that we will be there soon.”
