Dairy Queen pauses Middle East expansion as supply disruptions test drive-thru AI
Dairy Queen has hit pause on Middle East growth as tensions disrupt shipping, while it pushes AI into about 50 drive-thrus to speed orders.
Regional tension has put Dairy Queen’s Middle East expansion on ice just as the chain is moving faster on drive-thru automation, a split-screen moment for restaurant workers watching growth slow overseas and labor-saving tech speed up at the window. CEO Troy Bader said the company was in a “hold position” on the region, with franchisees wanting to “wait to see what happens” as conflict tied to the war in Iran disrupts trade routes and business planning.
The practical problem is not abstract. Dairy Queen already operates in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and it had also shown interest in Saudi Arabia. Bader said shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz are forcing the company to look for alternative routes for products that cannot be sourced locally. For franchise operators, that means higher logistics risk, more uncertainty around supply and a harder case for opening new stores. International Dairy Queen says it has more than 7,900 stores in 20 countries, so the pause in the Middle East lands inside a much larger global franchise system that depends on moving product reliably.
At the same time, Dairy Queen is testing voice AI from Presto in about 50 drive-thrus. An early test found the system got about 90% of orders right, with employees still monitoring AI-generated orders and management aiming for accuracy above 99%. That matters for the people working the lane. If the software can reliably catch routine orders, the job at the speaker box may shift from typing every item to supervising the system, fixing errors and keeping the line moving when the rush hits.
Dairy Queen and Presto announced the partnership on April 16, and the pilot has been expanding to select franchisees across the U.S., with at least 25 franchisees in at least 25 states mentioned in industry coverage. The company was also set to highlight the partnership at the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix on April 20. For restaurant workers, the message is plain: when global growth gets riskier, chains may slow expansion abroad while leaning harder on automation at home, especially in the drive-thru where every second and every mistake shows up in labor costs and service speed.
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