Eating out has become so common in Saudi Arabia that it has spawned a whole big food industry worth $59 billion. There are more than 50,000 coffee shops and restaurants scattered all over the kingdom, catering not only to diverse food tastes but also providing thousands of jobs that bolster the local economy.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Investment, the amount of investments in the kingdom’s restaurant sector has reached approximately $59 billion, with an expected growth rate of 8 percent this year.
Last November, the Saudi Central Bank said that consumers in the kingdom spent more than $320 million on F&B, followed by $320 million on cafes and restaurants.
All these expenses refer to a large amount of money spent on restaurants and cafes daily, indicating that they bring significant profits that help the local economy diversify its sources of income away from oil.
According to prior claims by Walid bin Nasser, head of the “Riyadh Chamber’s” restaurants committee and a member of the Saudi Restaurant Association’s board of directors, the restaurant sector generates the most considerable annual income in the tourism industry.
He stated that restaurants led the list of yearly tourism sector revenues with about $21 billion, followed by transportation with about $15.4 billion, $8 billion in hotel revenues, $3.5 billion in entertainment, and $15 billion in tourism agencies.
The restaurant sector in Saudi Arabia is expanding rapidly, with more than 50 thousand restaurants and cafes already operating.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Commerce statement, the ministry granted 7,322 business licenses in the restaurant and cafe activities alone last year.
The statement revealed that restaurants acquired 5,302 licenses, while coffee shops acquired 2020 licenses. Riyadh led the list of regions that issued the most restaurant and café records, followed by Makkah and the Eastern region.
Accelerated Expansion
A study issued last month by the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises “Monshaat” showed that the activities of restaurants and cafes in the country will grow by 12.2 percent between 2020 and 2025.
The study revealed that the added value of the wholesale and retail trade, accommodation, and food sectors in the kingdom was $17 billion in the 2021 Q1, with the sector’s yearly value totaling $62.5 billion.
Despite a drop in this sector’s share of GDP contribution to 7.8% when COVID-19 closures were implemented, “Monshaat” pointed out that its contribution exceeded 10 percent in 2021, out of the 16.3 percent contribution of the non-oil sector.
The kingdom wants to increase the number of restaurants per million people to 3010 restaurants and 1032 cafes. According to statistics released by the Saudi National Center for Industrial Information in August, the food products industry has received $23.2 billion in investment, resulting in the creation of almost 82,000 employments.
The center revealed that the local investment in the food industry has accounted for 90 percent of all investments.
It’s worth mentioning that during the pandemic, the restaurants and cafes sector benefited from the kingdom’s incentives and support packages, as well as the programs launched by the ministries of commerce, agriculture, and industry.
A restaurant with a difference
A restaurant in Saudi Arabia is offering patrons in the conservative kingdom a unique experience — dishes with a side of skull and blood in the company of zombies and vampires. The restaurant, “Shadows”, caters to horror film buffs with strong stomachs, allowing them to savour their dishes while staff in gory costumes put on interactive shows.