Herfy

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Herfy Food Services Corporation

Type of Company	Public
Founded	1981 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Headquarters	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Key people	Sheikh Ahmed Al-Said, Founder Mr. Ibrahim Al-Hamoud, First corprate partner H.R.H. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, Current CEO
Industry	Restaurants
Products	Fast food, including Super Herfy, Kufta,Fish Fillet, french fries, and milkshakes
Employees	1'800 full time
Slogan	25 years of good taste
Website	www.herfy.com

Herfy is the largest fast food restaurant chain in Saudi Arabia and one of the largest in the Middle East, surpassing major international corporations in terms of local size. It has a total of more then 100 restaurants and 2000 employees throughout Saudi Arabia. It also has many subsidiaries including Herfy Bakery and a soon to be built meat processing plant. It has been an entirely Saudi-owned company since its inception, a fact the company boasts about proudly.

[edit] History

Herfy was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Al-Said in 1981. Sheik Ahmed returned to Saudi Arabia after studying in the United States. Noticing the fast-food craze in America headed by such restaurants as McDonalds and Burger King he decided to return to Saudi Arabia and start his own local fast food chain. He partnered with Panda United, a chain of saudi markets, to launch the first Herfy restaurant in 1981. Herfy continued to grow with Panda United by opening a branch in every new Panda market. Herfy Bakery opened one year later in 1982 to provide fresh in-house bread to both Herfy and Panda.

In 1994, Panda United was bought by HRH Prince Waleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company. Therefore, Panda's 70% stake in Herfy was transferred to Kingdom. Bolstered by the new large budget provided by Kingdom, Herfy's growth skyrocketed during this era.

In 1998, AlAzizia Panda United (Panda's new name) was incorporated with the Savola Group headed by the highly respected Eng. Adel Al-Fakeh. Therefore, Herfy became part of the group. Herfy's growth again grew as the number of Herfy chains doubled.

In the 1960's and 1970's there was a chain of burger restaurants in the northestern United States called Herfy's. The restaurants, originally started in Everett, Washington (USA), were perhaps best known for their Wacky Burger Boxes, a predecessor to the Happy Meals sold by McDonalds.

[edit] Future Projects

Herfy only very recently opened its first overseas branch in Bahrain in cooperation with local partners Al Meer Trading Est.. Franchise agreements in the U.A.E and Kuwait have been concluded and more franchise requests have been received.

To cope with the added overseas branches, Herfy is planning to open its own 13 million Saudi Riyal meat and chicken processing plant in a similar way to Herfy Bakery.