The Great Greek wants to take its Mediterranean fare to more global markets.
Quick Take
Suresh Beharry is expanding his holding company’s restaurant portfolio with a fast-casual concept he says will draw customers looking for healthy, flavorful options. The agreement comes as his home country of Guyana is in the midst of an oil-driven economic transformation.
Since the discovery of offshore oil by Exxon Mobil in 2015, Guyana’s economy “is changing very rapidly,” said the chairman of one of that country’s largest multi-industry holding companies, “and the timing was right to introduce a fast-casual restaurant” to the South American market.
There’s nothing like The Great Greek Mediterranean in Guyana, continued Suresh Beharry, who as executive chairman and group CEO of Beharry Holdings is the third generation to run the international firm’s portfolio of businesses in manufacturing, finance, auto sales and, more recently, restaurants. Already a Yum Brands
franchisee with KFC and Pizza Hut locations, Beharry Holdings signed a master franchise agreement with The Great Greek to develop locations in its home market and seven countries throughout the Caribbean, including Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Beharry, who noted he’s visited “everything from fast food to Michelin-starred restaurants,” said when he tried The Great Greek while on a trip to South Florida, it had all the hallmarks of a great restaurant: quality products, a clean environment and stellar service.
“I was very impressed on my first visit,” he said. “Subsequent visits to other restaurants, I had exactly the same experience. So for me, that sold me.”
Beharry Holdings CEO Suresh Beharry says The Great Greek will complement his existing Yum Brands portfolio.
The Great Greek, an affiliate brand in United Franchise Group’s Big Flavor Brands food division, serves Mediterranean-inspired menu items such as tzatziki, spanakopita and gyros, all made in-house. The concept’s offerings fit what consumers are looking for today, Beharry said, as people pay more attention to what they eat and how it affects longevity.
“Everybody wants to eat healthy, and I think The Great Greek brings that to the table when you look at what’s on the menu and the quality of the product on offer,” he said. “It gives that healthy lifestyle, and I think that’s what’s going to resonate with people.”
The oil boom in Guyana—Exxon Mobil reported its Stabroek Block off the Atlantic coast was producing roughly 900,000 barrels per day as of late 2025, and the Bank of Guyana said oil revenues already exceeded $8 billion—is reshaping consumer behavior in the country of 800,000 people. Government spending on infrastructure, healthcare and education is leading to an expanded consumer class, Hope Research Group noted in its analysis of Guyana economic trends.
The research firm, which focuses on Latin American and Caribbean market intelligence, pointed to employment creation, rising new construction and an emerging middle class among the direct and indirect impacts of the oil and natural gas discoveries. Restaurant and fast-food spending, it noted, is growing 25 percent annually as new chains enter the capital city of Georgetown and disposable income increases.
Beharry Holdings is reviewing sites in Georgetown for its first Great Greek, likely a standalone restaurant, and expects to open a location later this year, its chairman said. The group will develop multiple units in Guyana before working with sub-franchisees to bring the brand to the Caribbean.
Beharry Holdings is planning a major marketing push when it brings The Great Greek to Guyana.
Beharry acknowledged that unlike the group’s internationally known quick-service restaurant brands, The Great Greek, which is closing in on 100 stores (all but five of them in the United States), will require a bigger marketing push. But he’s confident the product and experience will stand out.
“That’s what brings [people] back, because you’re not looking for a one-off customer; you are looking for a repeat customer,” he said.
His company’s long history—it was formed as Edward B. Beharry & Co. in 1937—and reputation for quality should help it quickly establish The Great Greek, he added.
“One of the issues here is the quality of product and service, and it’s not something that a lot of people put a lot of effort behind. We do spend a lot of money behind training our employees … not just to produce a quality product, but also the service we offer our clients, and that has stood out and been a very big bright spot for the group,” Beharry said.
The company earned its reputation as a strong restaurant operator after it reestablished KFC in Guyana upon acquiring the franchise rights in 2016, and again in 2025, when it took over the Pizza Hut franchise. The Pizza Hut business, Beharry said, “was in terrible shape,” though he declined to elaborate. But within 30 days of the acquisition and after “a lot of work to turn it around … we had people coming back to the restaurants, and then from there it’s just taken off.”
The company now has 12 KFCs and 10 Pizza Huts, with plans to open five more locations of the chicken chain this year and one new Pizza Hut.
Bob Anderson, president of The Great Greek, says the brand is able to leverage the resources of United Franchise Group as part of that company’s food division.
More international growth ahead
Bob Anderson, president of The Great Greek, called Beharry Holdings a “premier operator” and pointed out that the company’s food manufacturing and distribution sector meant it already had the capabilities to source ingredients for its restaurants.
“That gives you a sense of comfort as a steward of a brand, because you know having that kind of experience in those types of markets is critical,” Anderson said. The real estate and development prowess was likewise evident, he continued, “so the biggest challenges that we have going international are things they’ve solved already.”
The Great Greek began its international expansion in Canada in 2025, and its franchisees there, Amrinder Cheema, Gurbinder Singh and Poonam Goyal, opened the brand’s third Alberta location, this one in Calgary, earlier this year. In May, the brand debuted in Australia with a location in Queensland, and owners Chirayush Patel and Surjit Salwan plan to develop at least 50 restaurants in the region. Franchisee Metry Habashy, meanwhile, who already operates a location in New Jersey, joined with family members in Egypt to bring a store to Cairo.
Even though The Great Greek doesn’t have a big base of units outside the United States, Anderson said it is able to leverage the international capabilities of United Franchise Group, which counts global brands such as Signarama, Fully Promoted and Transworld Business Advisors in its portfolio. The growing interest in Mediterranean cuisine across multiple global markets, meanwhile, “is the wind in our sails.”
“The cultural acceptance of this food is by far unlike anything I’ve seen in any other type of brand that I’ve been in around the world, so it’s not new to anyone,” Anderson said. “You don’t have to explain the food, and the general concept of it is simple ingredients, freshly prepared, in a communal environment. That epitomizes The Great Greek and epitomizes what people love.”
The Great Greek is slated to open restaurant No. 100 in August, and Anderson said he expects systemwide sales to reach $150 million this year.
Dining and Cooking