REEF Technology, the US-based largest operator of delivery kitchens, logistics, and proximity hubs, and Americana Group, the largest Food & Beverage (F&B) operator in the Middle East region, has formed a joint venture (JV) to open cloud kitchens that will operate REEF, Americana and third party brands across Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
While building its infrastructure on recently announced acquisitions in the Middle East, the JV will reinforce and accelerate REEF’s rapid global expansion through Americana’s well established real estate portfolio and end-to-end value chain.
REEF’s first major deal in the UAE was the acquisition of Dubai-based iKcon Restaurant, a cloud kitchen company, in November 2021. Mubadala Capital, Mubadala Investment Company’s fully owned asset management arm, led a $700 million fundraising round into REEF in 2020, alongside SoftBank, Oaktree Capital Management, UBS Asset Management, and Target Global.
REEF has a proximity ecosystem of over 8,000 locations and a team of over 18,000 team members. The company established its presence in the Middle East in August 2021.
The company has partnered with a number of international brands to bring its cloud kitchen concept to local neighborhoods, including MrBeast Burger in Dubai and Another Wing, which REEF globally launched in partnership with, DJ Khaled, opening 165 locations in 3 continents, at the same time.
Ramez Shehadi President & Chief Growth Officer REEF
“As REEF continues its international expansion, this highly strategic partnership is a milestone that will serve as a model for the ways our ecosystem can deliver rich market-backed content to new locations in a way and at a pace that wasn’t possible before. We look forward to growing this relationship and replicating it across many priority markets in the near future.“
“Food tech is an exciting space and offers vast opportunities to grow our customer base. We are glad to collaborate with REEF. As technology and ordering trends continue to evolve, we believe this collaboration will bring mutual synergies and benefit in the long run,” said Mr. Amarpal Sandhu, CEO of Americana Restaurants.
Mr. Michael Beacham, President of REEF Kitchens, said that “By uniting the region’s largest and most established F&B operator with REEF’s culinary ecosystem, this partnership will bring convenient access to some of the most loved brands to neighborhoods across the MENA.”
