Shakour’s untimely death forced Ihsan, who had just graduated from university, to leave Rami to finish his studies while he returned to Jeddah to save the new venture from closing down. 

“With the demise of our father, we lost the agency rights and had to start from scratch. We had to liquidate assets, pay off debts, streamline the business and reduce costs,” said Ihsan. “By the time I took over the business, there were over 400 copycat restaurants serving ‘broast’ chicken in Jeddah alone. We had to find something that would set us apart from the competition and we knew that it had to come down to quality and value.”