Dairy Queen pauses Middle East expansion as Iran war disrupts shipping

Chief executive Troy Bader said franchisees across the region are waiting to see how conditions develop, leaving the Berkshire Hathaway-owned chain in a holding pattern even as it still wants to grow. Dairy Queen already operates in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and had previously signaled interest in Saudi Arabia. Bader said the company may need to find alternative shipping routes, a reminder that conflict in a critical waterway can reach far beyond energy markets and into restaurant expansion plans.

The pause lands at a moment when Dairy Queen has been trying to sharpen its international profile. The company has said it wants to reach $10 billion in annual sales by 2030, and it has emphasized overseas growth, especially in China and the Middle East. Reuters-linked reporting has placed Dairy Queen at more than 7,700 stores worldwide in 20 countries, including more than 1,600 locations in China, with global sales of about $6.4 billion in 2024. In the United States, QSR Magazine put the chain at 4,212 stores in 2024, down 42 from the year before.

At home, the company is leaning on automation to ease a different kind of pressure. Dairy Queen plans to test Presto’s voice AI in about 50 drive-thrus after an initial trial showed the system got about 90% of orders right. Bader said the goal is to push that accuracy above 99%, while also freeing workers to focus on quality control and customer service instead of spending so much time at the register.

Dairy Queen and Presto said on April 16 that the technology had already been tested in corporate stores and was being expanded to select franchisees across the United States. Trade coverage said the rollout would reach at least 25 franchisees in at least 25 states, putting the chain among a growing group of restaurant brands betting that voice AI can cut labor strain without slowing service.