Kahala Brands

Kahala Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada-based MTY Food Group Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kahala is one of North America's largest holding company of franchise fast food restaurant companies.[2] In May 2016, the publicly traded Canadian MTY Food Group announced a friendly takeover deal with the Kahala Brands. MTY agreed to pay about US$300 million to acquire Kahala. The two companies generated nearly $2 billion in revenues in the previous year.[3] Jeff Smit was chosen to lead the US operations of MTY.

History

Surf City Squeeze was started in the early 1980s by Kevin Blackwell and his wife Kathi, and later became a franchise.[4] Later, in 1998/1999, Sports Group International, Inc. (a company that was originally formed to distributed Spalding-branded sports drinks) merged with Surf City Squeeze with Surf City Squeeze's management taking over full control of the company.

Brands

America's Taco Shop – a restaurant chain with locations only in Arizona.[25]

Baja Fresh – a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants in the United States, Portugal and Kuwait.

Blimpie – an American submarine sandwich chain with locations in the United States and Kuwait

Cereality – a chain with stores in Texas, West Virginia, Minnesota and Ohio; also formerly had stores in Illinois.

Cold Stone Creamery – an ice cream parlor restaurant chain with stores in Bahrain, Canada (partnership with Burger King/Tim Hortons from 2008 to 2014 now terminated), China, Denmark, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United States, Philippines, Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Finland, Jordan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Vietnam, Singapore and Lebanon[26]

Frullati Cafe & Bakery – chain with stores in Kuwait and the United States.[27]

Grabbagreen – a chain of restaurants offering healthy foods and smoothies.[28]

Great Steak – a restaurant chain with locations in Canada, Mexico, Kuwait and the United States. Founded 1982;[29] formerly "Great Steak & Potato Company".[30] In 2000, it had 225 locations.[31] Sold to Kahala Brands in 2004;[32] expansion planned into South Korea.[33]

Johnnie's New York Pizzeria – restaurant chain with stores in California, Florida, Oregon, and Texas.[26]

Kahala Coffee Traders (California, Utah)

La Salsa – a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants in the United States

Maui Wowi Hawaiian – chain with stores in the United States, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[34]

NRgize Lifestyle Cafe (United States)[34]

Planet Smoothie – a chain of smoothie restaurants with stores in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.[26][35]

Pinkberry – a chain of frozen dessert restaurants with locations in Canada, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Panama, Peru, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, United States, Philippines and Thailand.[22][23]

Ranch One – a chain of restaurants specializing in grilled chicken breast sandwiches, with locations in Kuwait and the United States.

Rollerz (California, D.C., Illinois, Nevada and Texas)[36]

Samurai Sam's Teriyaki Grill (Kuwait and United States)[37]

Surf City Squeeze – a chain of smoothie restaurants with stores in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Curaçao/Netherlands Antilles and United States.[34]

Sweet Frog - a chain of frozen yogurt restaurants with stores in the United States (East Coast, South, Mideast, Midwest, West Coast only) and the Dominican Republic.[38]

Taco Time (Canada, Kuwait, Curaçao/Netherlands Antilles; and United States, except locations primarily in western Washington state operated by Taco Time Northwest)[36][37]

Tasti D-Lite – a New York-based fast food company which mainly sells frozen dessert products, it has locations in Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

type	Subsidiary
location city	Scottsdale, Arizona
location country	United States
area served	Global
industry	Restaurant
parent	MTY Food Group (2016–present)
key people	Eric Lefebvre (CEO)‡R1R‡
homepage	kahalamgmt.com

History

Brands

External links

References