Popular chain Tau’s chooses Dubai as first step to international expansion

Tau’s opened in Karachi in 2017 as a one-stop shop for authentic desi cuisine and catering. Five years later, after venturing into Islamabad and Rawalpindi, its founder is ready to expand with the first international stop being Dubai.

The choice comes as no surprise. Experts have said the time is ripe to enter the food and beverage (F&B) market in Dubai, with sector trade in the UAE crossing $20 billion last year.

“Dubai is a growing market, it’s near Pakistan and we have been here a lot of times and know a lot of people here,” founder Taha Rafay told Business Recorder on why they chose the emirate.

“We thought, let’s start with experimenting in Dubai first and then move onwards,” he said.

His partner, Ummar Khalid, joined the business in 2019. He believes “there’s a big gap in the market especially when it comes to desi food. That’s why we thought of Dubai.”

The two have been making regular trips to the emirate especially in the past two months, which is why proximity matters. Meanwhile, they say their biggest asset is their team, which is handling the restaurants for them back home while they set up their new branch.

In terms of ease of business in Dubai, the duo believes that there’s a lot of paperwork involved, but “things here are very professional compared to Pakistan”.

And another thing they have noticed in comparison to Pakistan is that in Dubai, when people like their food, “they praise you, they acknowledge the effort.”

However, the duo is also under no illusion that Dubai - with its 13,000 cafes and restaurants, the most of any city in the MENA region, serving every imaginable cuisine - is a hugely competitive market.

They say that in Pakistan, cuisine options are limited, and even the Chinese food is ‘desified’ to cater to local taste. But in Dubai, home to 200 nationalities, you can find authentic cuisine.

According to Dubai Tourism’s Gastronomy Industry Report 2022, Dubai’s F&B outlets span homegrown eateries and neighbourhood cafes to a dozen Michelin star restaurants. Dubai was also named the world’s fourth-best destination for food lovers in the Trip advisor 2022 Travellers’ Choice Awards.

Earlier this year, Michelin bestowed its coveted stars for excellence in dining to restaurants in Dubai.

“Dubai has emerged from a trading port in the Arabian Gulf to become one of the world’s most diverse business and travel destinations,” Michel, the French tire company that publishes the guides, had said in a statement.

“Thanks to this dynamism, Dubai developed a very interesting dining culture which takes influence from cuisines from around the world,” it added.

“There are multiple cuisines and all of them are big in Dubai. So there’s big competition,” says Khalid.

However, the duo is not worried.

“We use the highest quality ingredients and spices, which we’re bringing in from Pakistan, they are not locally purchased. They come all the way from Pakistan just to make sure we get the same taste.”

Tau’s Dubai branch opened last month in the Oud Metha neighbourhood. So far, the partners say the feedback they have received has been positive and in the future they have plans of opening up anywhere between 25 to 50 branches, within the UAE and then beyond to Turkey and the UK.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022