Tahini's goes global: London restaurant chain expanding to the U.S.

A restaurant that started out with one location on Richmond Row in London, Ont., and now has 57 franchises across the country, is moving into the busy American food market.

Tahini's will open locations in Chicago and New Jersey this year — an expansion that comes during a tense time for businesses operating in both countries as the threat of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs loom.

"We've been working on this expansion for a while now. We've found the sites and we should be opening within six months. We're really excited to be moving into the States," said Omar Hamam, the CEO of Tahini's, which serves Mediterranean food with a fusion twist — think chicken shawarma but butter chicken or Jamaican jerk.

"Ever since I started the company, I was thinking of not just the States, but going into the rest of the world as well. I would love for it to be the biggest seller of Mediterranean cuisine in the world. You think of Mexican and you think of Chipoltle, burgers you think of McDonald's or Burger King. My dream is for people to think Tahini's when they think Mediterranean food."

The menu sets Tahini's apart, Hamam said, and will be adapted for the American consumer. "The menu right now is the same in all the locations but in the States it will be a little different. 90 per cent the same, but we want to make sure the concept fits with the people down south. It's not always the case where you take a concept and copy and paste it in another country, and it works exactly the same."

London-based Tahini's restuarant is expanding to the U.S.

5 hours ago

Duration 6:43

Mediterranean restaurant Tahini's has been expanding across Canada and is now planning to open locations in the United States. Tahini's founder and CEO, Omar Hamam, joined London Morning host Andrew Brown to talk about the restaurant's London roots and plans to go global.

That's the right approach, said assistant professor Nina Rosenbusch, who teaches international business and entrepreneurship at the Ivey School of Business and has a course about how businesses expand into other markets.

"Companies have to consider economic factors, such as minimum wage and the impact that will have on their business, but also cultural factors. How do people eat out? Do they take out or stay in, and how long do they spend when they eat in? Do they go out in smaller or bigger groups? Those are the things that need to be considered," Rosenbusch said.

It's really important to get boots on the ground to figure those things out, she added. "You get a real deep understanding of what people want and the products they look force, and how much they'd be willing to spend on it."

Although we think of Canada and the United States as relatively similar markets, there are differences that can make or break an expansion, Rosenbusch said. The popular American retailer Target learned that when it expanded into Canada but underestimated the differences it would need to be successful here, she added.

Besides cultural differences, economic and legal issues also need to be considered, Rosenbusch said.

In Canada, Tahini's has created a supply company which delivers food to its restaurants. For now, the it will work with American suppliers as it expands south, but may create its own supply chain in the future, Hamam said.

He's also ready to pivot on certain things if tariffs do get implemented on Canadian goods, as President Donald Trump has been threatening.

"I tend not to worry too much about things before they happen, but it would impact every business in Canada, including ours. We buy some of our products from the States. If those go up by 25 per cent, then that means it's going to increase food costs, which means increased prices. We're just going to have to wait and see."