Burger King foresees 180 new stores in Brazil in 3 years
O Estado de S. Paulo 10/05/10
In the verge of completing six years in Brazil, the American fast food chain Burger King has 93 restaurants - a pale presence compared to the national and foreign chains like McDonald's, Bob's, Giraffas and Habib's. But the rise of class C and the recovery of the economy after the crisis made the group outline more ambitious plans for the country, with the opening of 180 new units in three years.The approaching between Burger King and the Brazil does not stop there: in September, the 3G Capital fund, created by the Brazilian investors Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira - the main shareholders of AB Inbev, largest manufacturer of beer in the world -, signed the agreement of US$ 4 billion to buy the global operation of the chain, which severely suffered in the crisis and faces the fierce increase of competition with other international chains, like McDonald's. Miranda says the business still does not influence the plans for the Country, because it is 100% closed. For the market, however, the business is a sure thing.
What is known is that 3G is interested in expanding the Burger King chain in Latin America, and also promoting the "marriage" between the offer in the restaurants and the beverages of Inbev (in Brazil, Ambev). "It is a chain of strong distribution for the products of Ambev and also with potential of association of the brand", says the Executive Director of the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF), Ricardo Camargo. The difference with the new partner, according to Camargo, will be the possibility of investment of the very chain in the project of expansion: "Since the beginning of the operation, Burger King has been growing supported by the investments of local partners".