Food Chain - Issue 206 - June 2025 | Page 205

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Osmow’ s
“ My father started Osmow’ s when he bought a struggling submarine( sub) sandwich shop in Streetsville, Canada, determined to turn it around and make it profitable. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, right after that, major franchises moved into our small town, with a couple of popular chains opening just a few minutes away from us. As a result, sales dropped significantly at the sub shop, to the point where we started losing money every single day. Then one day, everything changed. A regular customer noticed my dad cooking a traditional Middle Eastern meal and was genuinely curious and interested in the cuisine. This interaction sparked the idea in my dad that maybe our community would appreciate tasting authentic flavors from back home. Subsequently, we closed the shop, and our whole family pitched in to renovate it overnight, effectively converting the sub shop into the first Osmow’ s.
“ Our early days were far from easy. It took around two-to-three years just to educate people about shawarma, our core offering, leading us to give away many free samples. The real breakthrough came on the first day of a local parade, during which we distributed countless samples knowing the crowds would spread through town once the parade ended. That day brought an overwhelming influx of customers, and from that point on, business never slowed down again. Osmow’ s had become the spot that everybody wanted to introduce to their friends and family. Soon after, my sister and I joined the business full-time, as my father focused on the food and wanted us to take charge of operations and learn everything about franchising. Hence, we networked relentlessly, picking industry experts’ brains and building valuable relationships. This groundwork allowed us to begin franchising, and for the past eight years, we have been growing at an
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