Big Smoke Burger

MTY completes the acquisition of Big Smoke Burger

MONTREAL, Sept. 18, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - MTY Food Group Inc. ("MTY" or the "Company") (TSX: MTY) announced today that pursuant to the announcement made on August 18, 2015, its wholly-owned subsidiaries MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc. has completed the acquisition of 60% of the assets of Big Smoke Burger (www.bigsmokeburger.com). The total consideration for the transaction is $3.0 million, paid from MTY's cash on hand. At closing, the Big Smoke Burger network operates 17 stores, including 4 corporately-owned stores. Of the 17 stores, 9 are located in Canada and 8 are located in the US or overseas. In the weeks following the transaction, the operations of Big Smoke Burger will be relocated into MTY's offices in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Mustafa Yusuf, the founder of Big Smoke Burger, will retain a 40% share of the ownership of Big Smoke Burger. He will continue as Senior Vice President of Big Smoke Burger, following the conclusion of the transaction. Certain information in this News Release may constitute "forward-looking" information that involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, future expectations and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. When used in this News Release, this information may include words such as "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "plan" and other terminology. This information reflects current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speaks only as of the date of this News Release. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances. Additional information is available in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis, which can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of MTY Food Group Inc. _____________________________________ Stanley Ma, Chairman, President & CEO SOURCE MTY Food Group Inc. For further information: Eric Lefebvre, Chief Financial Officer at 1-514-336-8885 x 288 or by email at ir@mtygroup.com, or visit our website: www.mtygroup.com or SEDAR's website at www.sedar.com under the Company's name RELATED LINKS http://www.mtygroup.com

Canada · 17 Sep 2015

New Store Opening

Grand Opening today of our 2nd location in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia! Big Smoke Burger - KSA

Saudi Arabia · 19 Nov 2014

Big Smoke Burger expands to the Middle East

Before people went cuckoo for cronuts, before cupcakes were hot on the scene, there were gourmet burgers. Thanks to our insatiable appetites, “better burgers,” as the food industry dubs them, have gone from craze to commonplace. When we’re hungry, we like it our way, with some hand-cut fries and homemade ketchup on the side. Signature touches such as spicy chipotle mayo and local toppings like smoked Canadian cheddar initially set Toronto-based Big Smoke Burger and Mustafa Yusuf, its founder and CEO, apart from the many competitors. “The market’s already saturated,” Yusuf says. This hasn’t stopped him from launching an international expansion of his boutique fast-casual restaurant chain, into markets as close to home as Southwestern Ontario and as far away as the Middle East. Dan Rowe, CEO at FranSmart, the franchise development company that, over 40 months in the mid-2000s, took Five Guys Burgers & Fries from four units to an international chain with 100 locations, started courting Yusuf shortly after he opened his first shop. “It’s the best burger I’ve ever had,” Rowe says, “and it’s the best franchise one, because it’s such a small unit with such a high-quality product.” Yusuf waited until he had perfected his model before working with Rowe (Yusuf opened one Big Smoke location per year in Toronto between 2007 and 2012). They signed an agreement in 2011 and have been actively franchising for the past 18 months. The company’s first U.S. location, in Denver, Colorado, started serving burgers last summer, and in the next few months, doors will open in a suburb of Detroit and in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood. Expansion has also taken off rapidly in the Middle East. In November, 2013, a Kuwaiti location opened; in January, Big Smoke welcomed customers in Riyadh; and the first half of 2014 will see locations in Bahrain and Dubai, with second restaurants in Kuwait and Riyadh. Born in Somalia, Yusuf, 39, lived in Abu Dhabi until age 11, when his family moved to Toronto. Yusuf says the Middle East expansion has been a positive experience: “I wouldn’t change anything.” And though he says that Canadians are loved in the Middle East, he admits that “knowing the culture and knowing a little bit of Arabic has helped.” The Middle Eastern appetite for Western culture and cuisine has also helped: “95% of the people eating at our restaurants are Arabs,” Yusuf says. Perhaps the greatest contributor to Big Smoke’s success in the Middle East is Rowe’s experience in the region. He has spent the past decade building several brands in the area including Elevation Burger, a Virginia-based chain that Rowe describes as serving a “fast-food burger” versus Big Smoke’s “restaurant burger,” which meant his team was able to pair Yusuf with reputable local franchisees (“non-Arabs can’t own businesses in the Middle East,” Yusuf explains) and guide him through hurdles like the requirement for halal meat, the dearth of ready suppliers and labour issues. “When you do business in the Middle East, all of your employees are imported. You need to bring in labour, which means you also need to house them and sort out how to get them to your restaurants to work every day,” Rowe explains. “It’s quite a puzzle.” These added operating expenses are reflected in menu pricing, which Yusuf says is a bit higher than what Canadian customers are paying. Yusuf has made an effort to maintain as much consistency as possible, whether in Colorado or Kuwait. His stores are equally sized, all ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet; all kitchens use the same made-in-Winnipeg grill to cook the same 13 burger options and all cheeseburgers are topped with Canadian cheddar. Aside from the menu pricing, the only significant difference found in the Middle East locations is halal beef, a legal requirement. Currently, halal beef is sourced from suppliers in Europe, the U.S. and Australia. “We’re trying to promote Canadian beef and are working with suppliers,” Yusuf says of the approval process that a factory must go through to be able to certify its meat as halal. The market has changed since the mid-2000s when Rowe was growing Five Guys. “Then, basically nobody was competing with Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Burger King. Five Guys had a very easy time standing out. Now, there are a lot of people doing high-quality products, so you’ve got a higher bar,” he says. Last year, Big Smoke’s 10 locations dished out 900,000 burgers. Within the next two years, Yusuf’s goal is to have a total of 50 locations worldwide. So, while he may think the burger market is saturated, he’s still hungry.

Canada · 26 Feb 2014

سفير كندا في المملكة يقص شريط #بيج_سموك_برجر، الافتتاح الرسمي اليوم الخميس بعد صلاة العشاء مباشرة، بانتظاركم 👍😍

Saudi Arabia · 8 Jan 2014

Big Smoke Burger Opening at Divonne Complex

Last weekend and on an extremely gorgeous day, weather wise, I received a heavy paper bag invitation from Kuwait’s newest burger place, Big Smoke, whose opening I attended last night. Inside the big paper bag was the invitation card along with an apron and a salt & pepper or herbs shaker, a perfect gift for the BBQ season especially in such a great weather. Big Smoke Burger is a Canadian franchise and is located at Divonne, the newly built restaurants complex in Abu Al-Hasaniya area right next door to The Village. In Divonne you can find plenty of restaurants, a mix of old favourites and new ones, all of which are not open yet which makes Big Smoke Burger the first restaurant to open there. Some of the restaurants that are opening up include Nino, IHOP, Johnny Rockets, The Salad Boutique, Hello Kitty Cafe, and Starbucks! All the restaurants are arranged around a big lovely fountain and once they open I can see their tables arranged around it, European piazza style, all that’d be missing is a few street performers! The very first restaurant to the right and also the very first restaurant to open is Big Smokes, illuminated by colourful spot lights and live music playing to set the festive mood. The inside of Big Smokes isn’t that big, perhaps enough for a handful of tables only. There is plenty of outdoors tables though and in this gorgeous weather I cannot imagine who’d want to sit inside. The opening of Big Smokes in the piazza like Divonne couldn’t have come at a better timing. As we sat on a table waiting for the official opening, the Big Smoke waiters arrived with trays of Boylan’s Soft Drinks bottles. Boylan’s is a Canadian soft drink which is made with pure cane sugar. There were three flavours: Orange, Black Cherry, and Ginger Ale. I tried the orange one and it was quite good, a tad on the sugary side but still good. I was told that the ginger ale was excellent, everyone was raving about it. After the red ribbon was cut we got to take a few pictures of the burgers preparations. The fries are freshly prepared in Big Smokes. Each day the potatoes are cut, soaked in water, then fried in oil before being served. I almost stole some of the other people’s fries as I was taking these photos! Then it was time to place our orders. Big Smokes offer a veggie patty instead of their meat one in whatever combination you fancy and they have several “signature burger” options on their menu with ingredients like rosemary, blue cheese, caramelised onions, and chipotle mayo. Once you place your order you are handed a number that you place on your table while you wait for your order to be brought to you. My number was 18 and it didn’t take long before my veggie burger was on the table. I took the liberty of photographing my fellow diner’s burgers though as I waited. One is the mushroom burger, one with caramelised onions, and one with mashed avocado spread. I didn’t order the onion rings but as I was waiting I stole some from one of my dining companions and I fell in love! Each ring was gigantic, crunchy, yet quite fluffy! I loved Big Smoke’s onions rings and I would recommend them for sure. The fries were as close to home fries as it gets. They were good but were a tad too salty for my taste buds and that’s why I couldn’t polish them off. The poutine is basically fries topped with cheese curd and gravy. My dining companions said the taste of gravy was too prominent in the dish and that if you leave the fries for too long they become soggy and lose the crunch. If you are a fan of gravy then this dish is for you and make sure you eat it fast. If you are looking for cheesy fries with strings of cheese everywhere then this is not for you. My veggie burger came in a whole wheat bun with pickles, lettuce, onions, mayo, and cheese. The veggie patty was grilled and had that smoky grill marks on top and an excellent grill taste. However, the patty itself was a bit bland and is not made of mixed vegetables and/or beans but rather is of a soy or quorn meat substitute. The rest of the burger was excellent though, bun and toppings. If you are like me and don’t care much for soy or corn meat substitute then don’t go for the veggie patty but I suppose a signature burger without burger would do the trick just fine. We were having a good time so we decided to have a bit of food art using the ketchup and mustard dispensers. We had a great time at the opening of Big Smokes Burgers last night! Thank you Ghaliah Technology for extending the lovely invitation to the opening and thank you Big Smokes for your generous hospitality, wishing you the best of luck! Big Smokes Burgers is located in Divonne Restaurant Complex in Abu Al-Hasaniya area right next to The Village. For more information and directions you can give them a call at +(965)-22495372 or follow them on instagram (@BigSmoke_KW).

23 Nov 2013