Burger King to open 100 new restaurants in Ontario and Manitoba
Burger King will open 100 new locations in Ontario and Manitoba over the next five years, as parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI) pursues an ambitious growth strategy that includes opening thousands of new restaurants around the world.
Burger King has partnered with Redberry, a franchise group that operates 40 per cent of its 400 Canadian restaurants, to increase the company’s store count by 25 per cent and “drive growth in the under-penetrated burger market of Canada.” Ten restaurants are expected to open in southwestern Ontario in 2020.
“For far too long, Canadian burger lovers have not had enough flame grilled options to choose from,” Matt Wright, Burger King Canada’s general manager, said in a statement released Thursday.
“We’re excited that even more Canadians will be introduced to the iconic Burger King brand and our great tasting food.”
RBI, which operates the Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes brands, plans to increase its restaurant count from approximately 26,000 locations to more than 40,000 over the next eight to 10 years. The expansion would make RBI one of the largest restaurant companies in the world. Burger King currently has around 11,000 restaurants globally, and has recently announced plans to expand to China and the Baltics. International sales at Burger King increased 14.6 per cent over the most recent quarter, while its overall comparable sales – a key metric in retail – jumped 4.8 per cent.
RBI previously said it expects the global burger market to grow 5 per cent annually over the next five years.
“We continue to see a long runway for growth for the BK brand around the world,” RBI’s chief executive officer Jose Cil told analysts on its most recent conference call.
“We believe our balanced menu offering and great tasting products together with the consistently superb in-store experience and rapidly growing digital connection with guests provides us with an engine for growth for many years to come.”
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