German Doner Kebab boss wants to turn chain into date-worthy dinner spot
GERMAN DONER KEBAB boss Simon Wallis is on a mission to transform the food from “something you eat at 2am after 12 pints of lager” to a date-worthy dinner.
He claims just four per cent of the restaurant chain’s sales are after 11pm.
Mr Wallis said: “Kebabs have the association of only being eaten at a certain time after a certain amount of drink. We’re changing that.”
Last year GDK took out a big billboard campaign featuring slim fashion models with a fat kebab and the strapline “doners worthy of daylight”.
He said: “We deliberately got models that were the exact opposite of a person you might associate with a kebab.
“We want to say this could be a place you’d take your mum on Mother’s Day, or could it be a place for a first date?”
The business made headlines last year after launching its breakfast brioche — stuffed with doner meat, eggs, onions and tomatoes and hash browns on the side.
Mr Wallis, who joined from Domino’s Pizza two years ago, says GDK was “really pleased” with the sales.
GDK’s latest tie-up is hardly fine dining either — doner meat, sauce and salad inside a bag of Doritos crisps and called the KeBag.
The chain signed influencer Khaby Lame, who has 162.4million TikTok followers, for the KeBag advert.
Asked about the recent backlash to rapper Stormzy’s collaboration with McDonald’s, Mr Wallis said: “We resonate really well with Gen Z — going up against other brands, you have to make sure it’s authentic.”
Like other fast-food brands GDK faces scrutiny from nanny-state health officials and questions about the rising threat of fat-jabs and what they mean for suppressed appetites.
But people do not go to GDK for health food — they go for the big portions.
Its huge OG Kebab has a typical 1,049 calories in one serving and the doner wrap has 1,067.
Mr Wallis insisted: “It’s largely meat that’s grilled, with salad in bread. It’s not deep fried foods”.
But GDK does sell deep fried food — including spring rolls, chips and doughnuts.
GDK started in Berlin and opened its first site in the UK before expanding to the United Arab Emirates.
There, British entrepreneur Athif Sarwar had his first bite and went back five times on the same holiday before striking a deal in 2017 to buy the business and expand in the UK.
Sales are growing rapidly.
GDK now has plans to expand to 300 stores in the UK and £400million of sales from its current 146 restaurants and £161million of sales.
The firm is planning to relaunch a £5 menu to appeal to hard-up Brits.
It is also making its restaurant kitchens more efficient with “robotic shavers” for its vertical rotisseries.
It’s a new dawn for kebabs, no matter what time of day.
SHEPHERD’S RISE
BRITAIN’S oldest brewer Shepherd Neame has said its beer prices will increase after it suffered a £2.6million hit from the Budget.
The firm, which produces Bishops Finger and Spitfire ales, said it would deal with “unwelcome costs” from changes to National Insurance contributions through cost efficiencies and price rises over the next 18 months.
The company’s revenues dipped last year from £89million to £85million as sales of premium bottled ales fell — but trading at pubs improved.
PFIZER’S SELL-OFF
US drugs giant Pfizer has sold its remaining 7 per cent stake in Haleon, the FTSE100 maker of Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers.
Pfizer raised £2.4billion from its 618million shares at 386p.
It comes three years after Pfizer spun off the business, which had been a joint-owned venture with GSK.
It was the biggest London listing in a decade. GSK sold off its stake last May.
Haleon said the Pfizer sale was “an important milestone” and the firm was “in a position of strength”.
750 BANK JOBS PUT IN PERIL
NEARLY 100 more Santander UK bank branches are set to shut — putting 750 jobs at risk.
The Spanish-owned group yesterday revealed plans to close 95 out of its remaining 444 branches in Britain.
Of the branches that are left, 36 will operate on reduced hours and 18 will be “counter-free” in further cost-cutting measures.
The move comes just months after Santander’s global chairwoman denied rumours it wanted to sell its UK bank, but suggested that more cuts were on the way.
Boss Ana Botín had hinted at a move to “reallocate capital” to more profitable countries.
The recent closures are a further blow to the High Street after more than 6,000 branches have been shut by banks in the past decade.
Cash access hubs have been set up to fill the gap, but there are still fewer than 100 across the country and they cannot provide the same full services.
THE price of terraced houses rose faster than all other types of property last year, jumping by 4.5 per cent to an average of £235,296, according to Halifax.
Detached homes rose by 4.1 per cent, while flats saw the slowest growth at 3.2 per cent.
LONDON’S TINTO WIN
THE board of mining giant Rio Tinto has dismissed calls to quit a London listing in a vote of confidence for the UK.
It currently has dual-listings in London and Sydney and has faced pressure to change from activist investor Palliser Capital and proxy advisers.
But the company yesterday dismissed the idea as “value- destructive”.
It said it was “unfounded and misleading” to suggest the dual structure was to blame for its performance.
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