“Fast food attracted special attention from Romanian consumers due to the strong activity of famous international brands like McDonald’s and KFC, which made the good performance possible by helping to integrate mass consumers into the Western lifestyle,” Euromonitor analysts say.
The higher incomes and return to eating out favored fast food because of the combination of convenience and leisure that transformed fast food outlets into places frequented all day long by consumers of all ages and professions, as individuals or in groups.
“The fast-food restaurant market is on the rise, we have been seeing development over the past few years,” says Daniel Boaje, chief executive and minority shareholder of McDonald’s Romania. The company is 90% held by Malta-based Premium Capital, while Daniel Boaje owns the remaining 10%. McDonald’s sold the franchise for the restaurant chain in December 2015 ending its direct presence in the country.
Premier Restaurants Romania through the McDonald’s chain was the undisputable leader of fast food in 2016. With a 29% value share and a 31% transactions volume share, the company ranked far ahead of the follower US Food Network through the KFC chain, Euromonitor says. Each of the two has about 65-70 restaurants in Romania and their cumulated revenue stands at about RON1 billion or half of the market. Both brands have been operating in Romania for more than two decades.
Other brands followed, such as Burger King and Subway. Burger King only has one airport restaurant, after the company that operated the other restaurants went insolvent. The airport restaurant is operated by a different entity, which has a number of Burger King restaurants in other airports, as well. Subway arrived in 2012 and has expanded fast but its sales are far from the market leasders’.
Each of the 35 Subways in Romania generates six or seven times lower sales than a McDonald’s or KFC restaurant, ZF has found.
There is also an important local actor segment on the local fast-food market, the shawarma restaurants, either chains like Calif and Divan or independent operators.
“Fast food is expected to record good growth (…) due to the efforts made by both international and domestic chains to further develop,” Euromonitor says.
Most of the big chains in Romania have announced growth and expansion plans. Entry of new names and development of new shopping centers and malls will help, too.
A new foreign giant is expected to arrive in Romania, market sources say, and that giant is Taco Bell, which will open its first restaurant in Baneasa Shopping City in northern Bucharest. The owner of the brand is YUM Brands, which also owns KFC and Pizza Hut. Taco Bell will arrive via Sphera Franchise Group, franchisor of several international brands, among which KFC and Pizza Hut.
“At this moment, we cannot confirm or deny the potential entry of Taco Bell in Romania,” the group said. (EUR1=RON4.5595)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)