Famous Brands

Famous Brands Limited is a public company listed on the (JSE) in South Africa. Its head offices are in Midrand, Johannesburg. The company is Africa's leading quick-service and casual dining restaurant franchisor. The company's global footprint of franchised stores spreads across the world, totalling 2,163 stores (2013): South Africa 1,881, rest of Africa 172, United Kingdom 110 (2013). Besides its core business activities of quick service and casual dining, the company is also involved in manufacturing and logistics with a focus on owning and managing the back-end supply chain of its restaurants.

The company was founded by George Halamandres in the 1950s following a visit to the United States where he learnt about the and sought to bring to South Africa the steakhouse restaurant concept. Halamandres opened the first Steers steakhouse restaurant in the early 1960s. In the 1980s Halamandres' son John Halamandres became CEO and rapidly grew the Steers Steakhouse franchise as a fast food takeaway restaurant. In 1994 the company listed on the JSE and in 1997 the company acquired the Debonairs Pizza franchise followed by the FishAways franchise in 1999.

Famous Brands has acquired a large number of restaurant brands globally and in South Africa in particular by pursuing an aggressive brand acquisition strategy. In September 2016 the company acquired the British hamburger franchise Gourmet Burger Kitchen and its 75 restaurants for R2.1 billion (US$143.3 million).