“For the world’s largest restaurant operator, taking large bites of commercial space globally has not hurt its appetite for more,” according to Gulf News.

“In fact, the growth strategy for the $12 billion (Dh44.04 billion) Yum! Brands — which owns Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell in the US and franchises them in most of the other markets — is built around adding thousands of new locations and certainly not in the tens or hundreds. And that includes the Middle East as well.

“The Middle East and North Africa is an extremely strong and growing market for us and we plan to double the number of restaurants in the region to 2,800 locations within the next five years,” said David Novak, the chairman and CEO, who was in Dubai on a short stop last week.

He was on a promotional tour for his book Taking People with You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen, the sales proceeds of which will go to the UN’s World Food Programme.”