IFS Qatar launches mega promotion campaign

Doha: In a major boost to Qatar’s ongoing campaign for encouraging inbound and local tourism during this summer season, Doha-based, Integral Food Services (IFS Qatar) has launched a mega promotion campaign with millions of dollars of prizes on offer for customers. As a leading & prominent Restaurants and Food Services brands operators in Qatar, IFS Qatar will run the mega promotion campaign until September 7 at all branches of its brands in the country.    

As part of the campaign, IFS Qatar will offer ‘scratch and win’ prizes worth QR23.8m to all customers spending QR150 at any of the IFS Qatar’s high-end restaurant brands including The Village, French Olive, and Royal Tandoor and QR50 in rest of the eight eatery brands including Tandoor and Bombay Chowpatty. Making more reasons for customers to visit its outlets during summer, IFS Qatar will also be holding raffle draws where customers will have chance to win a Mercedes A-200 and a Mitsubishi Pajero at the conclusion of the three-month-long campaign.

“In our campaign, everyone is a winner. If you spend QR150 at any branch of our 12 high-end restaurant brands you will get one ‘scratch and win’ card and a coupon to enter the raffle draw for Mercedes A-200. In the same way anyone spending QR50 at any of the eight eatery brands, the customer will get one ‘scratch and win’ card and a coupon to enter the raffle draw for Mitsubishi Pajero,” Integral Food Services Managing Director William Aranha told our reporters on the side-lines of an event to mark the launch of the mega promotion campaign in Doha recently. “There is a guarantee that every holder of ‘scratch and win’ card will get some prize. It can be a mobile phone, discounted travel tickets, restaurant vouchers or even gold coins. Everyone is a winner in our campaign,” Aranha said.

While the main aim of the campaign is to support tourism in the country, Aranha said, the campaign will also go a long way in popularizing IFS Brands in the country. “Generally summer seasons are a lean period for the restaurant business in this part of the world. However, this time it will be different as we expect 25 percent more footfalls compared to the previous year due to this campaign,” he said. 

Aranha said the overall outlook for the restaurant business in Qatar is quite positive as the initiatives taken by the government have yielded positive results for the tourism sector in the country.     

Despite the ongoing blockade imposed on Qatar, he said, most brands of IFS Qatar are doing good business. 

“We are doing better than last year. Our leading brands are patronised by Qataris. For example, the 90 percent customer base of The Village restaurants is Qataris. They never stopped visiting us. Our other high-end brand French Olive has made huge improvement compared to last year in terms of sales as both Qataris and Europeans continue to patronise this particular brand. Other brands popular among Asian expatriates are also doing well,” he said.       

“We have around 50 branches of different brands in Qatar. We are in the process of opening one more branch of French Olive at the Doha Festival City and two more branches of Bombay Chowpatty in Najma and Wakrah areas soon,” he said.

“While we are promoting our retail brands through this campaign, our core business is to feed the workers engaged at various construction projects in Qatar. We provide catering (3 meals a day) for around 40,000 workers in Qatar on a daily basis. This is the backbone of our business,” Aranha said.

“Almost 50 percent of our business comes from industrial catering. We are one of the leading caterers for the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (Qatar 2022) Projects. Out of the six stadiums, we have the contract to feed workers engaged at four stadiums with three meals a day throughout the year. Qatari Diar is also one of our major clients. We provide food for around 14,000 workers engaged with Qatari Diar projects,” he said.

“Our other major clients include Qatar Foundation (QF), Qatar University Hostels, Qatar Fuel (Woqod), New Doha Hamad International Airport, New Doha Port Project, Ashghal and Mowasalat. We also work with a number of private firms where we provide meals on a daily basis,” he said. “Our corporate dining solutions div. operate cafeterias and restaurants in corporate offices like HSBC, Ooredoo HQ2, Ashghal, Qatar Airways Training Centers, Doha Bank and others. We feed executives with food supplied from our kitchens,” he said.

“Kids Kanteen” our schools & Institutional catering Div. provide catering services for schools in Qatar. Currently, we are providing catering to 21 international schools in Qatar. These include Swiss, German, French and Indian schools,” he said. “Where we cannot go and provide our services, our IFS Vending Solutions (IVEND) machines serve,” he said.