The Taste of Victory..

It’s not about politicians, it’s about Hamburger.

Have you ever wondered why there’s no Zaater w zeit, Kabab-ji, Crepaway, Breakfast to Breakfast, Roadster and Bliss house in Tripoli?

Although nominally the second largest city in Lebanon, Tripoli has noticeably shied away from the exuberant proliferation of successful Lebanon-made franchises that has been taking place in the last few years. Except for some notable exceptions like Pain D’or and Maison du Café, the Lebanese super brands found it easier to operate branches in Kuweit than to do so in a city that is just 40 mins away. Why?

Some would say it’s because of our culture: People don’t eat out as often as they do in Beirut. But that doesn’t sound too convincing. There are a lot of home grown restaurants in Tripoli who are doing very good business although they have TERRIBLE service. How would you like a waiter to shout at you because you’re taking too much time to decide what you want to eat?

To get a better answer, just listen to the statement Karami made when he heard that Hariri is in Tripoli: “we don’t want strangers to impose their own M.Ps on us”.
In other words, Tripoli has yet to become an “open society” and dust off the old establishment’s xenophobia. “Karami doesn’t want Tripoli to advance” my dad always told me. Successful franchises have strict standards that always contradict with the demands of our gatekeepers who want a share of the business and to employ their cronies (usually Syrians) before they would give it a working permit.

Like Australia has its own animals, Tripoli is developping its own brands, and even exporting some of them to Beirut (like the Hallabs). But it's the same country and economics of scale still apply.

Some critics will disagree with my demand for the franchises, but it’s usually because of conservationist anti-globalist logic: The “small store by the corner” versus the “big megalomalls” argument. “we have better food” a lot of them will argue. Well, open the damn market, let us be part of this big feast called Lebanon and let the consumer freely decide what to eat.

Sunday can’t come soon enough!