---
title: "German Doner Kebab registers year of strong international growth"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/ec9fb15a-55c1-48a2-9bf5-40514062aefc
source: "Global Franchise"
original_url: https://www.global-franchise.com/news/german-doner-kebab-registers-year-of-strong-international-growth
author: "Raghav Patel"
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2021-10-18T14:39:36.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T16:26:46.096Z
image: https://cdn.global-franchise.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/thumbnail_German-Doner-Kebab-Hero-Kebab..jpg
---

# German Doner Kebab registers year of strong international growth

**TL;DR:** German Doner Kebab has expanded into new regions in 2021, including the US and Saudi Arabia, with plans to open 100 restaurants in Canada and Saudi Arabia over the next few years. The brand has also signed a master franchisee in Saudi Arabia and plans to open 10 restaurants in the US in 2022.

*By Raghav Patel, originally published in Global Franchise on 2021-10-18. [Read the original](https://www.global-franchise.com/news/german-doner-kebab-registers-year-of-strong-international-growth).*

## Key facts

- GDK opened its first U.S. restaurant
- 100 restaurants planned in Canada
- 100 restaurants planned in Saudi Arabia

## Story

The kebab franchisor, German Doner Kebab, has expanded into a number of new strategic regions in 2021. GDK managed to open its first U.S. restaurant at a premier location in the American Dream Mall in New Jersey and opened a third restaurant in Canada in Downtown Toronto.

The Toronto location enjoyed its launch in August after two successful launches in Ottowa and Surrey last year. The brand plans to open 100 restaurants across Canada over the next ten years.

The successful American Dream location provides the underpinnings and anchor location to grow the brand in the U.S. GDK has plans to open ten restaurants across New York, New Jersey and Texas in 2022.

November will see the opening of the brand’s first Saudi location in Riyadh. The Ajlan Bin Ajlan Group has been signed up as the master franchisee in Saudi Arabia, with a development agreement of 100 restaurants over the next five years.

## International expansion plans

Alongside the brand’s ambitious international growth plans, GDK is continuing to grow in the U.K. with 47 restaurants scheduled to open by the end of the year.

“We have been extremely agile during the pandemic and have invested heavily in our infrastructure and product innovation to ensure we are geared for future growth,” said Imran Sayeed, CEO of German Doner Kebab.

## Growth strategy and outlook

“2021 is now proving to be a landmark year in our story as we expand our footprint and bring the German Doner Kebab experience to more consumers in the U.K. and across defined international growth regions.

“The global demand reflects our position as one of the world’s most exciting fast-casual brands and we are excited to have opened our first restaurant in the US and bringing momentum to our growth strategy in Saudi Arabia.

“We have developed strong franchise relationships to meet our ambitions and we are working closely with them to invest in localized global regions and create sustainable employment as we maintain our mission of building the fast-casual brand of the future.”

## Entities

- Restaurants (sector)
- franchise development (topic)
- Global Franchise (publication)
- international expansion (topic)
- canada (location)
- Raghav Patel (person)
- US (location)
- Saudi Arabia (location)
- qsr growth (topic)
- German Doner Kebab (company)
- master franchisee (topic)
- restaurant openings (topic)

---
Originally reported by Raghav Patel, Global Franchise (https://www.global-franchise.com/news/german-doner-kebab-registers-year-of-strong-international-growth). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/ec9fb15a-55c1-48a2-9bf5-40514062aefc).