Nathan’s Famous Brings Another New York Classic to the Middle East, Continuing Partnership With Mezzan Group

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Nathan’s Famous, Inc., the American tradition serving New York favorites for more than 100 years, brings another New York classic, the Nathan’s New York Cheesesteak by Pat LaFrieda, to the Middle East with its partnership with Mezzan Holding KSC. Mezzan Holding, through one of its subsidiaries, will manufacture and distribute the cheesesteak through food service. It will be available to consumers through third-party delivery in the coming weeks, with retail following at the beginning of next year. Mezzan Holding KSC is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of food, beverage, consumer goods and pharmaceutical products in the Gulf and this partnership further solidifies Nathan’s Famous’ commitment to the Middle East through the manufacturing and distribution of Nathan’s Famous products.

“We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Mezzan by adding another classic Nathan’s Famous menu item to their distribution,” said James Walker, SVP, Restaurants. “With the positive feedback we have received from our recent launch of the Nathan’s Famous Halal hot dogs with Mezzan, we expect the community will love the New York Cheesesteak by Pat LaFrieda. Mezzan continues to be a great partner and we are delighted that we can continue to introduce new menu items throughout the UAE.”

Mezzan Holding KSC subsidiary, Khazan Meat Factory, will produce the Halal certified Pat LaFrieda premium quality black angus ribeye, which is topped with caramelized onions, LaFrieda’s Butcher Reserve Steak Sauce, American cheese, and placed on an artisan baguette to create the cheesesteak. Nathan’s Famous introduced the New York Cheesesteak by Pat LaFrieda to the New York area in October of 2019 and have since expanded to their restaurants across the country.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Mezzan to distribute the Nathan’s New York Cheesesteak by Pat LaFrieda throughout the Middle East,” says Pat LaFrieda. “Nathan’s Famous has continued to be a great partner and we are thrilled to be a part of their brand as we continue to grow our customer base across the globe.”

“With Nathan’s well known name from the US and the recent distribution launch of their new Halal hot dogs, we know the New York Cheesesteak by Pat LaFrieda will resonate well with consumers in the UAE,” states Lindsay Wakefield, commercial director Mezzan Holding.

Through a separate partnership with Kitopi, a cloud kitchen platform that partners with restaurants for delivery, Nathan’s Famous will also distribute the Pat LaFrieda Cheesesteak through all of the third-party delivery platforms in the area.

To learn more about Nathan’s Famous, visit www.nathansfamous.com

About Nathan’s Famous

Nathan’s is a Russell 2000 Company that currently distributes its products in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and 11 foreign countries through its restaurant system, foodservice sales programs and product licensing activities. Last year, over 700 million Nathan’s Famous hot dogs were sold. Nathan’s was ranked #22 on the Forbes 2014 list of the Best Small Companies in America and was listed as the Best Small Company in New York State in October 2013. For additional information about Nathan’s, please visit our website at www.nathansfamous.com.

About Mazzan Group

• Operates in seven countries through 30 subsidiaries with more than 8,500 employees

• Distributes over 34,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKU), making it one of the largest operators in terms of SKUs, unit sales, market share and in terms of share of revenues of total consumer spending in consumer categories served by the company

• Active in various segments of the consumer staple industry supported by long-standing relationships with Johnson & Johnson, Olayan Kimberly-Clark, Reckitt Benckiser, General Mills, Arla Foods, Sara Lee and many other leading brands and manufacturers

• Serves over 130,000 meals a day in Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE through its catering business

• Has a total of 140,000 square meters in food, beverage and FMCG manufacturing facilities in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Afghanistan

• Leverages long-standing relationships with private and cooperative supermarkets

• Vertically integrated into complementary business operations, including packaging, catering, contract services and logistics

• Food services customers include multinational fast food chains, airline catering services and large food services companies.

Mezzan Holding is a 70-year old company that was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in the second quarter of 2015. The company is headquartered in Kuwait with direct operational activities in Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Afghanistan.

Except for historical information contained in this news release, the matters discussed are forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that involve risks and uncertainties. Words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which are based on the current belief of the Company’s management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company’s management. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include but are not limited to: the status of our licensing and supply agreements, including the impact of our supply agreement for hot dogs with John Morrell & Co.; the impact of the recent COVID-19 outbreak; the impact of our indebtedness, including the effect on our ability to fund working capital, operations and make new investments; economic; weather (including the impact on the supply of cattle and the impact on sales at our restaurants particularly during the summer months), and change in the price of beef trimmings; our ability to pass on the cost of any price increases in beef and beef trimmings; legislative and business conditions; the collectability of receivables; changes in consumer tastes; the ability to attract franchisees; the impact of the minimum wage legislation on labor costs in New York State or other changes in labor laws, including regulations which could render a franchisor as a “joint employee” or the impact of our new union contracts; our ability to attract competent restaurant and managerial personnel; the enforceability of international franchising agreements; the future effects of any food borne illness, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE and e coli; and the risk factors reported from time to time in the Company’s SEC reports. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking statements.

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