Celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck and Jason Atherton have opened or announced plans to open restaurants in the Kingdom. Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images North.
The rise of Saudi Arabia's power in the world of international sports in recent years is well documented, but it's not just footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo who are being lured into the once hermetic kingdom.
The country quickly established itself as a hub for high-end food and drink, looking to reshape its image and economy.
Famous chefs such as Wolfgang Puck and Jason Atherton, as well as major brands. from London such as Scott's of Mayfair, Sexy Fish and Gymkhana are just some of those who have opened or announced plans to open restaurants in the country.
However, as Saudi Arabia's restaurant industry is booming, campaign groups are warning that the rapid influx of foreign chefs and restaurateurs could be used by the Kingdom to divert attention from its poor human rights record.
«During It has been clear for many years that the Saudi Arabian authorities were willing to spend significant sums of money to launder the country's terrible human rights record, and the gambit here seems to be that the shinier part of the international catering business can achieve the same.» says Peter Frankenthal, director of economic affairs in the UK. to Amnesty International.
Allegations of «sport laundering» are familiar to anyone who has followed the Saudi Arabian invasion of football.
From the £300m takeover of Newcastle United in 2021 to the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo for Al Nasr from Riyadh for $200. m (£157 million) a year, the Kingdom has spent its way to prominence in world sports.
Now Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud, or MBS, has opened the country's deep pockets. to attract the world's biggest chefs and restaurateurs by offering huge financial incentives to reopen.
Big London restaurants like Scott& #39;s of Mayfair are in high demand in Saudi Arabia. Credit: Nick Harvey
Restaurant owners in London say they are often approached by Saudi companies hoping to sign franchise deals for their brands.
“London is one of the main driving forces behind brands. So many people from the Middle East come to London, especially in the summer. So you'll find that many of the most popular brands come from the UK,” says one restaurateur, who declined to be named. Franchise agreements can be lucrative. “There are no capital expenditures on our part. They will pay for the brand. They will pay royalties on sales,” says the restaurateur.
“We don't interfere with day-to-day work. Of course, we control all quality control, menu development, everything related to the brand. But day in, day out, they have their own [f&b] business that controls everything, and then we just work together to build it.”
Kurt Zdesar, founder of restaurant group Chotto Matte. , which now has a website in Riyadh, says British restaurateurs have been «inundated» with offers.
«If it's a brand that has enough international presence like we do, the [Saudi] government is up to 70% investment,” he says.
This drive to make Saudi Arabia a culinary heavyweight is part of the Kingdom's sweeping Vision 2030 plan to diversify the country's economy and transform the country into an economic and tourism hub.
It includes sustainable development goals designed to help the country eventually reach net zero and build massive new cities. Saudi Arabia is reported to spend $7 trillion on the transformation by the end of the decade.
“Following Vision 2030 and the government’s efforts to attract luxury consumers, several projects have been opened or announced that will further develop the gastronomic scene in country,” Euromonitor analysts say.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman opened the country's deep pockets to lure the world's biggest chefs. Credit: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP
The numbers are certainly impressive. Saudi Arabia's hospitality industry, which was valued at about $17.5 billion in 2022, will reach $30 billion by 2027, according to Euromonitor.
Nearly 40 gourmet restaurants are expected to open in the country next year. cuisine, and Saudi restaurants now feature numerous places on the annual list of the 50 Best Restaurants in the Middle East and North Africa.
But at the same time, the country has taken steps to crack down on dissent and increase the number of executions. According to Amnesty International, 196 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2022, the highest number in 30 years. homosexuality is still illegal there.
Saudi Arabia's international PR stunt has come at the same time as the crown prince's alarming human rights crackdown, the arrests of government critics and human rights activists, a spate of unfair trials and the widespread use of the death penalty, including as a tool. political repression,” says Frankenthal.
He points to the 27-year prison sentence handed down to University of Leeds student Salma al-Shehab, for example, for tweeting about her support for women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia.
р><р>The Amnesty report also raises concerns about the treatment of migrant workers, who, according to the charity, have faced verbal and physical abuse, confiscation of passports and irregular or unpaid wages.
And that's without mentioning the murder. journalist Jamal Kashoggi, who was killed and then dismembered by a group of Saudi assassins in 2018.
«Major sporting events have taken everyone's attention, but Mohammed bin Salman's efforts to rebrand Saudi Arabia have also attracted everyone from global pop stars to 'star architects', so the new drive to attract celebrity chefs and established restaurant businesses is entirely in keeping with that.» , says Frankenthal.
Saudi Arabia's rebranding efforts have attracted big names in a number of sectors, including soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo: AFP
Restaurant openings in Saudi Arabia hope that an increasingly cosmopolitan and international restaurant sector will contribute to a more progressive approach in the country.
Stefan Breg, a food and beverage industry consultant based in Saudi Arabia, says that while it is «not perfect,» he thinks Vision 2030 is «a great plan.»
«I'm a leftist.» . socialist, what am I doing there, huh?” he says.
“But what I see there is what I think the world should sit down and notice.
“You have men and women sitting among other women… with flowing hair, female DJs, and for me, this is part of the social change that MBS envisioned. And it's a very manageable process.»
The British restaurateur claims that much of the growth in Saudi Arabia's restaurant sector was only possible because of the significant relaxation of social restrictions in 2019, which ended the segregation of women and men. in restaurants. Previously, restaurants were forced to have two separate entrances.
“They have always been separated, so it is very difficult, and also many brands did not want to enter and work in this style,” they say.
Zdesar adds: “Human rights have taken a long time to get where we are today. And their program is accelerated, which means they are trying very hard. And the second part: it will take them time and they will probably make some mistakes along the way, but their intention is to get it right.
“As a way to get people to come to the village to want to work there, they need to make human rights, working conditions and labor laws fairer, which is what is happening.”
Neither Jason Atherton, Wolfgang Puck, Caprice Holdings (parent company of Sexy Fish and Scott's , owned by billionaire Richard Caring), as well as JKS restaurants (owners of Gymkhana) were not available for comment.
Jason Atherton's restaurant Maraya Social is currently listed as «temporarily closed» by Google. .
Attempts to turn the kingdom into an elite restaurant may be successful in years to come. But, as in the case of sports ambitions, they are sure to cause controversy.
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