US-based tech-enabled food and beverage platform Creating Culinary Communities – known as C3 – is set to enter into the UAE and the wider GCC market through a partnership with Kitopi, an executive of the US venture said.
As part of the initial launch plan, C3 will license 10 of its digital restaurant brands, including Umami Burger, Sam’s Crispy Chicken and Krispy Rice to the UAE-based Kitopi.
Sam Nazarian, founder and chief executive officer of C3, told Arabian Business that the partnership with Kitopi would also envisage opportunity for participation with additional C3 brands down the line based on success in the UAE market.
“International expansion has been a pillar of C3’s growth model from the beginning. When the time came to execute on that vision, we knew we wanted to partner with Kitopi and debut our brands in an influential market like the Middle East,” Nazarian said.
“With exponential growth planned, Kitopi’s smart kitchen model provides us with the technology and tools to scale our brands in as little as two weeks,” he said.
The partnership would also enable the launch of C3’s Citizens Go App in the UAE.
The Citizens Go App, featuring a culinary marketplace of vetted C3 digital restaurants and empowering customers to order directly from multiple restaurants via a single cart order, is the industry’s first alternative to third-party delivery platforms, the C3 chief executive said.
Sam Nazarian, founder and chief executive officer of C3
The partnership with Kitopi, which marks C3’s first international expansion outside the US, will see the UAE major launching the US food platform’s three popular brands – Umami Burger, Sam’s Crispy Chicken and Krispy Rice – in a phased roll-out in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The brands will also be introduced to consumers in other markets through Kitopi’s network throughout the Middle East and Asia, Nazarian said.
The first C3 brands are set to go live in Kitopi kitchens by June 1.
“The first 65 locations will roll out within the next six months and will rapidly expand to 90 kitchens within the first year, each offering menu items from all 10 of C3’s popular brands,” a senior Kitopi executive said.
C3’s partnership with Kitopi follows a series of strategic partnerships executed by the US venture in the last one year to expand its reach within the US market through hotels, residential properties and a collection of marquee food halls.
Nazarian said C3 has extensive plans for further expansion in the international market within the Middle East and also the UK.
As of February 2021, C3 has over 250 digital brand locations across the US and has plans for a US pipeline expansion to over 1,000 locations.
Nazarian said the company’s further expansion plans in the US would include a C3-operated Citizens food halls including a 40,000-square-foot space to open in New York City in the third quarter of 2021, a new 24,000-square location to open in Atlanta in 2022 and subsequent locations in Seattle, Miami and California.
Founded in 2019, C3 has about 200 digital kitchens, 15 newly imagined brands and more than 1,200 employees.
Kitopi currently has 65 kitchens and more than 200 culinary brands across the Middle East.
C3 is the latest in a series of international ventures entering the UAE market after the country’s authorities announced a series of initiatives since late last year, including allowing 100 percent foreign ownership in a range of industrial sectors, to attract foreign direct investment into the country.
Last week, Belgium-based media company Proshot announced the launch of its streaming company Filmpot in the UAE with focus on local content.
Iman Khatibzadeh, founder and chief executive of Proshot told Arabian Business that he also proposed to make Dubai the headquarters for Filmpot.
Stripe, a Silicon Valley-based FinTech venture, Indian start-up ventures Zaara Biotech and YourLibaas are among the other overseas ventures that entered the UAE market recently.
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