Roundup, a 54° East company will expand its food truck operations into Saudi Arabia after Ramadan, Emirati founder Rafia Al Mulla told Catering News.
The 15-month old business has signed a deal with a Saudi partner and has opened an office in Riyadh, which will have full authority over legislation for the Saudi operation of Roundup trucks.
More offices will open throughout the Kingdom over the next year, including one in Jeddah.
Al Mulla estimates that there will be between 45 – 75 trucks in Saudi Arabia by the end of the first year of operations in the country.
Some of the food truck concepts in Saudi Arabia will be duplicates of the Dubai trucks, however brands are still to be confirmed.
There are currently two Roundup trucks operating in Saudi Arabia: a grocery truck and a pet grooming truck, with between six and seven F&B trucks to be confirmed next month.
According to Al Mulla, Roundup is looking for expansion opportunities around the world, with the first step to be GCC expansion.
She commented: “We have some early stage discussions with GCC partners but nothing is confirmed. We’re still in early stages and we’re more than confident that by next year we’ll be all over the GCC with our shawarma or hot dog trucks.
“We’re looking at Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. We have already exported some food trucks to those regions but we’re looking for partners and as soon as we find them, all of the food truck orders will come through them.”
Al Mulla says that the company is also hoping to secure a partner in the USA, and is exploring opportunities in Europe and Asia.
Roundup currently has 27 trucks and operates from six international factories.
Each truck has the capacity to cater for more than 5,000 people per day.
The company can deliver trucks within two to six weeks after an order is placed.
