UAE based Jones the Grocer to expand outlets across Middle East from 23 to 33

UAE-headquartered Jones the Grocer is marking 25 years in the food and drink business by announcing it is increasing its number of Middle East outlets from 23 to 33 in the next 12 months. In the UAE, the total will be 24 and three each in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt.

Speaking on the success of the brand over the years, Jones the Grocer CEO and Owner, Yunib Siddiqui, says, “There are only very few people that do what we do by combining so many different things and putting them into one space. There are very few places that bake their bread, do great pastry, serve good food for breakfast lunch and dinner, a cheese room that can be combined with a wine bar and a menu that combines most people’s dietary preferences.

“Consumers have become far more intelligent. They want to have Instagrammable moments, not just in dining, but in their lives. They want to capture these moments and have a story every day, and I think we’ve been doing that very well for 25 years. The food at Jones is well prepared, it looks good on the plate, it tastes good, and it’s made-from-scratch.”

Beyond the next 12-months, there is a pipeline of around 25 new stores in the next three to five years, with plans to have around 50 stores in total. Most of these will be located in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and one in India.

“It has always been about artisan food where flavour and ingredients matter more than anything else,” says Siddiqui.