QSR Media Middle East Conferences & Awards 2025

Alan is from Ireland and serves as the VP/Head of International Development for Wingstop since January 2023. Formerly of AmRest, Cloudkitchens and Deloitte, Alan has worked across the world from Czech to Hungary, Poland, Spain and Portugal to the UAE and the Middle East amongst others. He is a KFC alumni where he spent 13 years of his career, Alan is a former professional rugby player and a proud husband and father of two children based in Dubai.

Steve founded Dubai’s homegrown award-winning burger brand Pickl in 2019 with one aim – to offer fresh fast food using the finest ingredients. Following the success that has seen Pickl open 15 restaurants in the UAE plus two in Bahrain, and one in Qatar, he is now taking his food philosophy to the next level with the introduction of Yolk Brands, a group consisting of the UAE’s finest, homegrown fast casual and quick service restaurants.

Along with Pickl, Yolk Brands includes BonBird, another Dubai-born concept designed from the ground up by Steve. Like Pickl, BonBird focuses on elevating fast food (this time fried chicken) to new levels and providing guests with a fresh, high-quality experience using only the finest ingredients. Four locations have opened already in its first year (City Walk, Motor City, Sharjah and JLT), so its quick rise is mirroring Pickl's. The latest addition to the Yolk stable has been Southpour, an artisan coffee shop with locations in City Walk and Dubai Festival City Mall, plus more on the way.

Hailing from Dorset in the United Kingdom, Steve brings more than 21 years of experience to his role. Having worked in the industry since he was a teenager, Steve’s wide-ranging career has seen him gain a holistic understanding of the F&B sector. He spent his formative years in the kitchen, starting from washing pots and pans before working his way up to become a high-end chef in the New Forest. Making the transition to managing restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, Steve earned the insight that has seen him conceptualise and open restaurants across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Prior to launching Pickl, Steve was the Head of Strategy for the 1762 Group in the UAE.

That made it all the sweeter when Yolk Brands acquired 1762 last year. Going from employee to employer. Since this acquisition Steve has gone on to create much loved BonBird, a homegrown fried chicken QSR that now sits proudly within the UAE market, Qatar, Pakistan and is soon to open in Oman and Europe. Dubai has been his home for the past eleven years, and Steve is proud to be at the helm of one of the city’s leading homegrown restaurant groups. Championing the people of Dubai and providing them with opportunities to grow alongside Yolk Brands’ concepts has always been at the forefront of his overarching strategy for the group, leading to 2023 being hailed as the “Year of the People” internally.

Aside from the success of his restaurant brands, Steve’s greatest success is always surrounding people. Unlike the vast majority of hospitality groups and individual restaurants, Yolk Brands has always had a 5-day work week instead of the 6 which is standard in this region, with Steve believing that work life balance is vital to a group’s success. He has championed winning ESOP programs within the F&B industry that has seen some of the best and brightest talents attracted to Yolk.

Steve has made it his mission to improve the welfare of delivery riders in the region. Since its inception, every Pickl has had a Riders Area for our hardworking delivery drivers to relax, get some water, and get out of the region’s intense heat while awaiting their order. He even extended this policy in Summer 2022 to include delivery riders from companies that don’t work with Pickl in a bid to help as many people as possible. Very few restaurants in the region offer such facilities, with many even putting up signs forcing riders to wait outside.

Global expansion is next on the agenda, currently Yolk Brands is proud to position itself as one of the biggest exporters of home-grown brands in the region with Pickl now open and positioned within the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt and further sites being constructed in Saudi, Oman and Kuwait boasting a total footprint of 40+ stores by 2025. BonBird has also steamed ahead with openings in the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Oman and signed deals across Europe and an ever healthy pipeline of 80 stores to roll out imminently. This is one to watch.

With 25 years in the restaurant industry, I have extensive experience in business development and operational leadership, including in the Middle East, Central Asia, and India regions. I am fluent in multiple languages and an expert in multi-site management. I excel at implementing effective systems and strategies that enhance organizational performance. I am skilled at identifying and capturing market opportunities to drive expansion, increase revenues, and improve profit contributions. I have a long history of building successful food service teams, providing superior service, ensuring 100% compliance with regulations, and maintaining the highest levels of food and service quality.

Lovrenc Kessler is the Managing Partner and General Manager at Simon-Kucher & Partners' FZ-LLC office in Dubai. As an integral member of the firm's global consumer practice and proficient in six languages, Lovrenc has successfully led numerous high-level international projects across Germany, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

With over 18 years of extensive consulting experience, Lovrenc specializes in advising market leaders in the consumer goods and quick-service restaurant (QSR) sectors on growth strategies, commercial excellence, offer architecture, and monetization strategies.

He has authored numerous insightful articles and whitepapers on monetization trends, consumer behavior, and strategic growth, and regularly shares his expertise as a distinguished speaker at international conferences and business events.