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▼ Ben Osmow aggressive pace, opening at least 25 locations annually. Next month, we will surpass 200 restaurants, as we have two more opening in the coming weeks,” he informs.
Founding flavors
Education became the secret ingredient in Osmow’ s recipe for success. As the brand grew, it consistently placed an emphasis on introducing North American palates to authentic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors through persistent customer education.“ I think we were the first QSR chain brave enough to take the risk of testing whether North Americans would be open to embracing our cuisine. To some, even the word‘ shawarma’ felt foreign at first, and I lost count of how many times I explained what hummus or falafel was while growing up. But we were lucky that traditional Arab foods like falafel and hummus started appearing everywhere from salad bars to supermarkets, paving the way for broader Middle Eastern flavors like shawarma in Canada. The process of educating customers was intense and included putting descriptions right on our menu, detailing ingredients and preparation methods. Alongside extensive sample giveaways, this strategy empowered us to raise awareness on our cuisine and products. To this day, whenever we introduce something unfamiliar to average North American palates, we give customers free samples for them to taste how delicious our cuisine is,” Ben reveals.
As Osmow’ s client base expanded over time, so did its menu. Ben goes on to tell us about the company’ s signature dishes.“ Menu wise, we introduced a few wildly popular dishes that went on to become some of our best sellers. One of them is our iconic Chicken on
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