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A Dutch burger baron reveals the secret to his halal success
Writer : 관리자 (halal@world-expo.co.kr)   Date : 18.06.11   Hit : 1765

A Dutch burger baron reveals the secret tohis halal success

 

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Tarek Cherkawi. Photo courtesy of Johnny'sBurger.

 

Tarek Cherkawi started franchising hishalal burger company, Johnny’s Burger, in 2015, and three years later, he has20 burger joints in the Netherlands. But he’s not done yet. His five-year-planis to have 100 burger joints catering to the country’s approximately 1 millionMuslims.

 

Ambitious plans indeed. But according toTarek, the success of his chain is down to the fact that he doesn’t promote hiscompany as halal except to communities that actually want halal.

 

“WE ARE OPEN TO EVERYONE,” TAREK TOLD MYSALAAM. “WE HAVE TO TARGET EVERYBODY AND MAKE SURE NOT TO ALIENATE THEMAINSTREAM CUSTOMER. WE MAY MAKE MORE MONEY IF WE SELL OUR BRAND AS A HALALRESTAURANT AND FOCUS ON THE MUSLIM CUSTOMER. BUT WE DON’T WANT TO SCARE AWAYTHE NON-MUSLIM.”

 

He says that a lot of people think Johnny’sis an American chain, but the franchise’s name comes from the pizza chain thatTarek’s father ran for nearly 40 years. When he retired, he sold one outlet tohis son, who decided to start a hamburger restaurant and stick with the name;he liked that it sounded international.

 

As chains like McDonald’s only had fishburgers to offer their Muslim customers, Johnny’s and its certified halal beefgained a quick following. Tarek told us that, when he and his mother wereexperimenting with spice mixes for the burger meat in his kitchen back in 2011,they were already focused on good quality brioche for the bread, halal beef andfresh vegetables. His burgers were so good that wholesalers approached him tobuy his burger meat mix. This resulted in a number of shop-in-shops whereJohnny’s burgers were sold.

 

But Tarek wasn’t happy with the way hisproducts were being sold and decided that the only way to expand his businessand keep control of the quality and image of his product was through hardfranchising. “We provide everything, from the interiors to the food to thedelivery,” he said. To ensure that the quality of the products and services isbeing maintained, his operations team regularly sends mystery guests to hisfranchises.

 

Volkan Dursun, one of the investors in hisfranchises, has several reasons for investing in Tarek’s chain, but the mostimportant for him is because they sell 100-percent halal burgers as aprofessional operating franchise concept. “I see this, from an entrepreneurialperspective, as a big plus because it serves a very large and diverse group inthe market,” Volkan said.

 

He was also attracted by the relativelysmall investment needed for what he thinks has major growth potential. And ithelps that he is a fan of the burgers. “I have visited many national andinternational burger joints over the last [few] years, and every time I realisethat we really have some good tasting burgers,” he remarked.

 

Tarek says that he had wanted to startsomething unique, and before he started Johnny’s Burger, he travelled a lot tosample different burgers. According to him, his company’s USP is that theyoffer a burger delivery-and-takeaway concept, where the quality of the food isthe same as that of restaurants but at a very reasonable price. “Muslimcustomers like to dine in because they want to see the halal certification. Butthey are about 10 percent of my business. Most of it comes from the deliveryservice,” Tarek said.

 

Before he expands abroad, he wants to have50 Johnny’s Burger outlets in the Netherlands. “I really like my work. Theemployees are very driven,” he said. “And I was born in the kitchen. I cannotdo anything else as it is in my blood.”

 

(Writing by Susan Muthlaly; Editing bySeban Scaria seban.scaria@thomsonreuters.com)

 

Link-> https://www.mysalaam.com/en/story/a-dutch-burger-baron-reveals-the-secret-to-his-halal-success/SALAAM07062018051526

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