Americana to start poultry feed plant in Ethiopia, Chairman says

Addis Ababa, September 26, 2023 (FBC) – Americana, the largest quick-service restaurant operator in the MENA region, plans to start a new poultry feed plant in Ethiopia, according to its chairman.

“I am really excited about starting a poultry feed plant in Addis Ababa,” Mohamed Alabbar told the Future Hospitality Summit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

“In the Arab world, we have a shortage of chicken feed … 65 per cent of the cost of the chicken is the feed and none of us in the Arab world is able to produce the feed because we don’t produce soya, we don’t produce corn.”

The company opened 108 new stores during the first half of 2023, bringing its total restaurant count to 2,277 stores as of the end of June.

Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. It is the largest out-of-home dining operator in 12 countries across the Mena region and Kazakhstan and operates restaurant chains such as Pizza Hut and KFC, according to The National.