Trends in the Russian fast food market. A Brief History of Fast Food in Russia

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Overview of the Russian fast food market

Research agency "RBC.research"

At present, in Russia, the most developed format of the chain catering market is the fast food segment, which accounts for about 30% of all chain restaurants in the country. Today, there are 99 fast food operators operating in the Russian Federation, which manage 3,788 chain restaurants. The dominance of the segment of stationary fast food establishments is quite justified. For several years now, fast food restaurants have shown a truly staggering growth rate. About half of all openings of chain restaurants from April 1, 2013 to the end of April 2014 were made at the expense of the fast food segment. During this period, 727 fast food restaurants were opened in Russia (rice. 1 ) .

It should be noted that in general, from April 1, 2013 to the end of April 2014, 1,528 new restaurants of all kinds of concepts were opened in the country.
The boom in the fast food segment against the backdrop of a slowdown in the expansion of network projects of more expensive formats is due to negative macro- and micro-economic processes that strengthen the trend of rationalization of visitors (the desire for savings, which determines the role of the price factor when purchasing certain services). The slowdown in the growth of salaries in the public sector, the increase in interest rates, the high level of debt load of the population, the slowdown in the country's economic growth in the second half of 2012 and in 2013 - all these factors had a negative impact on the pace of development of the public catering market (rice. 2 , 3 ) .

According to Merab Ben-El (Elashvili), President of G.M.R. Planet of Hospitality” and the head of the Russian Franchising Association, today one can observe a slight shift in visitors from more expensive restaurant formats towards establishments with democratic prices.

At the same time, it is international networks that show the highest growth rates. Thus, 4 out of 5 most dynamically developing players have the status of international chains. Among them are Subway, McDonald's, Burger King and Baskin Robbins. It should be noted that the market leader in stationary fast food is the Subway chain, which already manages 617 chain establishments operating in Russia. (rice. 4 ) .

In second place in the ranking is the former market leader (in terms of the number of chain establishments) - the McDonald's chain, which has more than 440 fast food restaurants in Russia. The top three also includes the Tomsk network of ice cream parlors 33 Penguins. Somewhat behind the top three, the Baskin Robbins chain follows. Currently, under the management of this brand there are 325 network establishments.
The Russian fast food chain market, despite the rapid development dynamics demonstrated over the past 2-3 years, has not lost its potential. According to Merab Ben El (Elashvili), comparing Western countries and Russia, we can say that the domestic fast food market is just beginning to emerge, since the number of catering establishments per capita in our country is much lower than in European countries and the United States.
However, as a result of the consolidation of networks, accompanied by their expansion into the regions of the country, Russian restaurant projects are increasingly beginning to yield to the world leaders in fast food. Thanks to the active development of the franchising market, as well as the accumulated experience in the United States and Western Europe, global chains are gradually pushing back Russian restaurant projects. This applies, first of all, to the Teremok and Kroshka Potato networks. Despite the focus on the Russian consumer, the elaboration of the menu, which takes into account the national flavor and traditions (purely Russian products - pancakes and baked potatoes), these chains annually lose positions to global players.
Thus, the rapid pace of opening of Burger King restaurants, as well as the marketing activity of the global brand, led to the loss of position by the Kroshka Kartoshka chain: the domestic project lost the fourth position to the American chain in the ratings of the most famous and visited fast food restaurants in Russia.
Unlike Russian fast food restaurants, the position of the McDonald’s chain looks unshakable, which has been ranked first in the ranking of the most recognizable and visited fast food restaurants for several years. And it's not just about the wide representation of the network, which already today has more than 440 restaurants in Russia. High quality standards, as well as a competent marketing policy of the network today are the main factors in the popularity of McDonald's, which is confirmed by statistics. So, over the past six months, 77.9% of the surveyed fast food lovers have had a snack in the American network. (rice. 5 ) .

When choosing a fast food restaurant, 53.9% of Russians prefer McDonald's, which confirms the high level of loyalty of visitors to the American burger chain.
However, the network's competitors are also rapidly increasing their retail: KFC, Subway and Burger King. Exploiting franchising development strategies, these global brands have significantly expanded the geography of their presence in the country. Over the past year (the first quarter of 2013 - the end of April 2014), the chains made a significant leap in development: KFC, Subway and Burger King opened 37, 147 and 83 new restaurants in the country, respectively. However, McDonald’s also demonstrates rather high opening rates - over the same period, 85 new establishments of the global brand opened in the country.
According to RBC.research experts, the high dynamics of McDonald's development and the strengthening of the brand contribute to maintaining the gap between it and its closest competitors in terms of fame and popularity of the network. So, if 78% of Russians had a snack at least once in six months at McDonald’s restaurants, then the same indicators for KFC, Subway and Burger King chains amounted to 47, 37 and 34%, respectively.
In the ranking of the most visited fast food restaurants, this gap also looks quite impressive. So, we repeat, 53.9% of visitors to fast food restaurants usually have a snack at McDonald’s. In the restaurants-competitors of the network, the same indicator is significantly lower - KFC, Subway and Burger King are usually visited by 24.4%, 13.5% and 12.9% of fast food lovers, respectively. Competitors, Kroshka Potato and Sbarro, are also trying to keep up, with a similar figure of 9.6% and 6.3%, respectively.

Inga Mikaelyan,
Senior Analyst, RBC.research

The fast food market began to take shape in Russia in the early 1990s. We all remember how in 1990 the first McDonald's, which had just opened, collected two-kilometer lines of those wishing to join a Western-style fast food restaurant. Since then, new foreign and domestic brands have appeared on the Russian market, opening new catering outlets, which have received a wide distribution and are consistently popular with the public, with the recently opened Burger King being a good example of this.

The popularity of fast food among consumers can be explained by its own advantages: food economy (albeit often visible), convenience of visiting, fast service and organization of fast food consumption.

Fast food types

Despite the fact that the fast food market in Russia has been developing for a long time, we still lack a single and generally recognized terminology. You can come across various terms, for example: street food, casual dining food, quick & casual, etc.

However, as a rule, fast food facilities fall into two main categories - street and stationary fast food. Kiosks, mobile carts, auto-buffets can be attributed to street fast food. The disadvantages of this form of fast food include a rather low motivation of the sales staff, which may affect sales volumes.

Stationary fast food is mostly represented by food court areas as part of shopping malls, as well as sometimes office centers. The popularity of this type among operators is mainly due to the large flow of visitors to large quality shopping centers.

According to Praedium Oncor International, usually the food zone (which includes the food court) occupies about 8-12% of the total area of the shopping center and, in aggregate, represents a full-fledged anchor that can generate significant customer flows. However, compared to other anchor tenants, the rates for food court operators tend to be higher.

This is due in large part to the fact that the "food court" area is always in high demand from fast food operators.

Major operators

In the Russian fast food market, following foreign brands, domestic operators quickly began to develop. From the point of view of filling the food court area, some places are usually given to well-known and promoted brands, for which rental rates will be lower than for other operators. Such "anchor" brands most often include such establishments as McDonald's, Teremok, Rostik's-KFC, Kroshka-Kartoshka, Sbarro.

Most outlets last year were opened by Kroshka-Potato, McDonald's and Subway.

Impact of the crisis

The fast food market has gone through the crisis quite steadily in our country in comparison with other groups of tenants (with the exception of grocery discount anchors). While the total revenue of many operators was falling, the income of operators of the same food court, on the contrary, was growing - according to various sources, the growth was about 20-40% in 2009.

This largely explains the fact that over the past year there was no significant drop in rates for food court operators.

Trends

Recently, we can highlight the trends that are observed in the fast food market, both in connection with the worsening economic situation, and regardless of the crisis.

According to analysts at Praedium Oncor International, over the past year, food court operators for the most part have not experienced a decrease in the flow of visitors. At the same time, in some cases, fast food outlets have attracted customers of restaurants and cafes, i.e. we can talk about a certain shift in visitor flows from more expensive formats towards more economical ones.

At the same time, the number of visitors to high-quality shopping centers, which are characterized by the scheme “first food - then shopping”, and not vice versa, is increasing. As a rule, most of the classic concepts of shopping centers assume that the visitor will first make purchases, and then move on to the food court area, but recently the opposite picture has often been observed. This could be fueled by an increase in the number of office workers who go to malls for lunch, as well as an increase in popularity among young people, for whom the food court is often perceived as a meeting area. All this testifies to the growing importance of the food court area as one of the main anchors that forms a significant part of the flows.

Against this background, it seems quite logical that, based on the examples of the largest and most iconic shopping centers, there is an increase in the number of operators, as well as the share of the food court zone in these shopping facilities. So, for example, in the shopping center "Vegas" a zone of restaurants and cafes with an area of 9,000 square meters is planned. m, and in the already functioning shopping center "Metropolis" there are about 19 food court operators. Over the past few years, the average share of the food court and the food area in general in the largest shopping malls has been gradually growing:

Nevertheless, despite the growth of the fast food market, there is still a tendency for operators with a little-known and not promoted brand to enter large high-quality retail facilities. Significant shopping centers plant mainly only proven and popular operators.

In general, oddly enough, only a small part of well-known world brands are still represented on the Russian fast food market, which allows us to talk about favorable prospects for new foreign chains to enter the Russian market. This is confirmed, for example, by the quite successful opening of Burger King outlets even during the crisis period. Given the high degree of competition in Western European markets, the arrival of large foreign operators in Russia looks quite natural and expedient.

The Importance of a Good Concept

Currently, the importance of the correct concept of the food zone in retail facilities is increasing. First of all, if the object is large, then a wide selection of well-known operators should be presented. Having a large selection can increase the attractiveness of a food area for different visitors.

No less important is the competent organization of the space, which implies an even distribution of tables between operators (in this case, the same Metropolis shopping center can be distinguished), and not when, for example, all seating places are collected in one place. At the same time, it is worth considering a comfortable space for 1 person and avoiding a situation where visitors are sitting almost shoulder to shoulder.

Also, the original furniture design can increase the overall attractiveness of the food court area. For optimal results, different layout options should be considered, and individual operators could be given the opportunity to decorate their adjacent space to enhance their fast food experience and add variety to the overall look of the dining area.

conclusions

In conclusion, it can be noted that during the peak of the crisis, the food court areas had the smallest share of vacant space among the other tenants of shopping centers. And in general, as practice shows, over the past few years, food court operators have been characterized by a lower rotation compared to other groups of tenants.

The scale of the shopping center plays an increasingly important role for operators, since the food court area is characterized by a large attendance in large shopping malls, and in small shopping malls people usually do not have time to get hungry.

In general, there is an increase in the influence of the food court as a full-fledged anchor: a well-organized food area with a wide selection of popular operators can act as an even stronger center of attraction than standard anchors (household appliances, sporting goods, clothing). And at the same time, on average, the rental rates for the food court area are higher than for other anchors, which is explained by high demand from operators.

The name of the company "Markon", a veteran of the Russian fast food market, is practically unknown to the townsfolk. But the signs of a network of kiosks selling hot dogs are well known. First it sounded: "Steff", then - "Stop-top", and now there was "Stardog!s".
However, the essence of this does not change - a sausage with a bun, the so-called "hot dog", is present everywhere in the form of the main highlight of the program. About why the company needed such transformations and what to expect in the near future - our interview with the founder of the business Sergei Shikharev.
- You were the first Russian network structure of fast food. Since then, the name has changed three times. Why did it happen?
— At the beginning of 1993, I often visited Denmark, buying meat and meat products. In Copenhagen, I noticed a lot of small mobile kiosks with different names, offering about the same range of very tasty hot dogs. It seemed to me that such a concept would be successful in Moscow as well. The meat processing plant Steff Houlberg, which has now lost its independence and became part of the Danish Crown Corporation, was chosen as a partner supplying the main ingredients. Somehow it turned out by itself that our network became called “Steff”. Now I understand that it was worth finding a different name. To develop the network exclusively through local investment, using the name of a Western supplier of one of the components of the final product, while not being the owner of the concept, was a costly mistake! However, in addition to negative consequences (investment in someone else's name, lack of freedom to choose a supplier of components), this story also had its pluses - we received useful experience, knowledge and skills from a Western partner. But there is always a price to pay for mistakes. For us, the hour of reckoning came in the summer of 1998. During August, the cost of the product quadrupled (we imported all the meat and bread!), and we could raise the price by 15-20 percent so as not to lose all sales. Even before the crisis, I tried to convince Steff Houlberg that we need to organize production here in Russia. We even started test production at the Cherkizovsky Meat Processing Plant. However, the Danes had no desire to invest. The fact is that this company was a cooperative by ownership, owned by several thousand Danish farmers. By handing over pigs for processing, they viewed their company solely as a means of obtaining added value in the production and marketing of a wide range of meat products. Steff Houlberg, not being able to offer us an acceptable price, put forward an ultimatum: either buy sausages from us on our terms, or remove the name, despite the fact that the Danish side did not invest a penny in our project. After quite a long but unsuccessful attempt to convince my former partner that I had the right to use the name "Steff", in mid-1999 I decided to rename the network to "Stop Top", using elements of recognition of the former in the new name. At the same time, I understood that this decision is temporary and must be changed in the future without fail.
- While working with Steff Houlberg, could you only buy products from them?
- Yes, it was a matter of course (naturally, only meat ingredients). But meat takes up half of the cost of hot dogs!
- Does Steff Houlberg have his own network in his native country?
- In Denmark, everything is arranged differently. There, independent retailers who buy sausages from Steff Houlberg are automatically entitled to use their trademark. Replacing "Steff" with "Stop-top" was a tactical decision. A little later, a strategic decision was made: to replace the second name with something that was significantly different from the prototype. It is known that a copy can never be better than the original. This common truth, it seems to me, works in our case. It took a lot of time to develop the name "Stardog!s" and a set of related activities, and we didn't have to hurry. Moreover, we wanted to do more than just change the sign. The main goal of our actions was one - to close this story with Steff, using the Stop Top trademark as a bridge for today's Stardog!s. In terms of investment, this event cost us quite a lot. Including - and in terms of recognition.
- But did you register the outflow of customers when changing the sign? And how has your concept changed?
- There were no drops in sales. After all, a regular customer reacts to the same product and to the same place. However, recognition still takes time, and time is the denominator of speed. So we lost in the speed of network development. As for changes in the concept, first of all, we want to bring more dynamics to its development. The lifetime of brands is shortening, and we have lived in the same form for a long time. The only reliable way to extend the life of a brand is through constant change. It is not at all necessary to change dramatically, but it is definitely necessary to adapt to new consumer trends, strengthening your basic competitive advantages. For us, this means securing a leading position in the segment in which we are now, offering new products and better service. In addition, while developing the Stardog!s trademark, we plan to pay special attention to customer loyalty motivation programs. Whatever you say, before we acted mainly from the product, but now we are shifting the focus to the buyer.
- What new products would you like to add?
- For example, in the near future we are introducing a new product "VULKANOBULL" - a hot sandwich of a traditional shape for us with a long beef cutlet and various sauces, convenient for eating with one hand. In fact, such innovations will be introduced regularly, but our consumer will decide whether they live or not. In general, if you know that you need to change, then you can do it even in a very conservative business. It's like in the production of T-shirts: each has the opportunity to be red, yellow, any other, while having inscriptions and drawings, and finally, to be of one style or another. So, without going beyond a very narrow segment, you can constantly present something new. A sausage will remain a sausage - but you can serve it in different ways: change the size and shape, spices, recipes and much, much more. In our concept, I single out four competitive parameters: taste, price, service and, finally, the most important - convenience. Taste and price are necessary conditions, and convenience is sufficient. For example, our French hot dog is not the tastiest and cheapest dish on offer. But it is convenient and therefore accounts for 50 percent of our business in sales. Its most important advantage is that it is convenient to eat almost on the go. Trying to somehow define the segment in which we work, I came up with the term - one-armed food (however, later I began to use a more commonly used one - convenient food). So we understand that our new products must be so convenient that they can be eaten with just one hand.
- Now many people are focusing on environmental friendliness, on the usefulness of nutrition. Don't you want to play on that note to attract buyers? A wave of healthy eating - will you try to introduce a “healthy” assortment on it?
- Healthy eating is not so much the appropriate characteristics of the product, but the state of mind and the way of consumption. Our consumer is a student or a clerk, a fairly young person who is just building his future. For him, time is most important, he saves it on food. A visit to a cafe or restaurant is not only more costly in terms of finances, but also takes up significantly more precious time. The problem is not the product, the problem is the lifestyle. We offer our client a compromise, the essence of which is to help solve a secondary task (have a bite to eat on the go), without being distracted from the priority ones - for example, go around the maximum number of clients, go to the cinema after work, etc. In addition, if a person is in a traffic jam What does it matter to him that healthy food is waiting at home if he wants to eat now? It will be much more useful to have a snack with fast food, so that the gastric juice secreted in vain does not cause gastritis. The problem is that it does not become your main meal, as Americans often do. These are some idealistic ideas, but reality is always a compromise. The world was fed industrial food, not just healthy food. I myself try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and I succeed, despite the fact that I continue to regularly eat Danish sausages with knackers and cheese. Not because it's convenient, but because it's delicious...
- The head of the Teremok company, Mikhail Goncharov, says that they have too wide a range of pancakes, so he is going to narrow it down. The buyer is confused by the abundance of variations. In your opinion, how many types of main products should there be in a fast food outlet?
- I think from 5 to 10, depending on the point format. Introducing new products, we regularly have to remove from the assortment what turned out to be in the tail in terms of sales. For example, we had frikadellers - tasty and ... inconvenient. Despite the fact that they had their own stable circle of customers, they had to be abandoned due to the smallest share in sales. At least until we find a way to sell them in a more convenient, "one-armed" form. From our point of view, one hand should be enough to have a meal in peace. If our product needs to be eaten with two hands, we will fall into the fast food segment, where a huge number of offers are currently operating. While we are “limited” by one hand, we continue to be in the segment (convenient food), which we ourselves have built. In addition to us, over time, shawarma, pancakes, pies partly came here - that's, perhaps, that's all (with this segmentation, I compare only by the convenience parameter, and not by taste, price, quality). Of course, we could afford more in product innovation by lowering the requirements for convenience of consumption. But imagine what our relationship with a client will turn into, soiled due to the fact that we sacrificed this parameter for the sake of volume or taste! I remember how unpleasant it was when I thus soiled a thing that I greatly appreciated.
- And how did you "decorate" it? Own product?
- I will not say…
- Well, why not? If your own - it's not only funny, but also useful - for business! So, check everything for yourself.
- Own - and more than once ... So there is something to work on. However, at the same time, we also want the product to be tasty, so that the price remains within the range accessible to the general public, and that the level of service gradually increases. By the way, we note that customers have become more likely to buy large hot dogs. The consumer desires larger portions. So now we're introducing hot sandwiches that have a lot more food in them.
- Does this mean that the Russian buyer, following the American one, will also start eating more? Some time ago, there was a lot of noise in the States about the fact that McDonald's increased portions of dishes exorbitantly, making it their competitive advantage. This fact has been linked to the rapidly growing number of obese people. Fast food has been heavily criticized in the press for feeding the nation. And what is happening with us? Is it domestic fast food producers who are imposing “gluttony”, or increasing portions - is it still a movement on the part of buyers?
- I think this is the need of buyers, but we are certainly happy about this. Of course, we tried to introduce large portions - and we saw from the reaction of customers that this is in great demand. And then, we see what others offer on the market.
- And how quickly did those types of dishes fly out of production that did not pass the tests on your costumes?
- Not very fast, and sometimes they didn’t fly at all. Often the problem can be fixed by modifying the product or packaging, perhaps by changing the preparation technology. This takes time.
- There are not so many types of "one-armed" products on the Russian market - sausages, pancakes, pies and shawarma. I wonder why no one makes shawarma a chain?
- I think there are so many shawarma that it is difficult to make it branded. With a similar problem - when every grandmother who sold a sausage roll began to call it a hot dog - we also faced partly. It is important for us to distance ourselves from this “product”, which is not related to a real hot dog, and Stardog!s gives us such an opportunity. Something similar happens with shawarma: everyone knows it as just a product. There is no single quality standard, and the assessment is always on the lower bar. To stretch the shawarma brand, you must also set yourself the goal of distancing yourself from the mass market. I guess sooner or later someone will do it...
- Abroad, there are a lot of formats of "one-armed" food - and there are dozens of interesting options in Asia. Are you afraid of expansion?
- Worrying about someone else coming is not productive. By developing the brand, simultaneously strengthening its competitive advantages and increasing the efficiency of the organization, we prepare ourselves for this. New products and players will definitely appear on the market, and we must meet them fully armed!
- Are you not interested in other types of fast food, in terms of expanding the field of activity?
- We have great potential in our own field. For example, a new working concept is a round dog. This is such a round bun with a round sausage inside and with fillers.
- And who will make round sausages for you?
- This is not a question, manufacturers will immediately learn if there is a market. But we have not yet decided at what stage we should implement it, because this product, obviously, will become a cannibal of some other. Is the game worth the candle? Everything needs to be calculated.
- If we talk about potential, how many more Stardog!s outlets can be opened in Moscow?
- The question is how to arrange them. We are strong in our compactness. And you don't even need wheels. They used to be a strong marketing ploy. If you unsuccessfully placed an outlet, you can quickly move it. Now it is simply impossible to roll back to the side, and we already know all the main human flows well. Worse, the format of a kiosk on wheels is very often used by people whose main skill is to negotiate a place, everything else is secondary. As a result, the negative image they create is automatically transferred to the networks. Further, we are not limited to the capital and sell a franchise to the regions. We have plans for all million-plus cities, and a franchisor is interesting for us only if he is able to create a network of at least ten establishments. Otherwise, the quality standard will be eroded, it will be impossible to build an efficient economy.
- Are you going to develop the format of individual mini-cafes?
- Necessarily. However, we and our competitors have a common problem - the lack of free places on suitable sites.
- Now, in connection with the "mass cleansing" carried out by the Moscow authorities in the capital, places should be vacated ...
- Yes, the market does not tolerate empty spaces. And by the way, we are ready to be present on the market in more organized forms. Please note: when there are three or four kiosks of the same format on the site, the next one tries to set an increasing height. Everyone wants to stand out! And I think that it would be wiser to unite several concepts under one roof. We have a different assortment, food intended for consumption at different times of the day, a slightly different clientele, and therefore, by uniting, we could collect many more clients.
- And with whom would you willingly share the platform?
- I think that under the same roof with "Baby Potato", "Teremkom", "Pies from the oven" it would be quite comfortable not only for us, but also for customers!
- What, in your opinion, are the growth opportunities for the fast food segment in Russia? Is it time for tough competition?
- The segment is constantly growing. You know, back in 1998, we started selling hot dogs at gas stations. But at the same time, they made an unfortunate mistake by offering an assortment of kiosks there and not taking into account that much less space was allocated for all operations. Then the project failed. Nevertheless, we returned to it and have been working with filling stations for the third year, gradually increasing our turnover. We reduced the assortment, concentrating on the most suitable types, and now this direction is developing very successfully. The gas station is such a natural place where the buyer who values time and our product intersect. Now we are already working with TNK, with some YUKOS filling stations. In general, we plan to be everywhere, in all new formats. For example, the fast food segment at gas stations began to develop actively only recently; some time ago we simply did not have it. The standard we propose is already market-driven, tested and adapted.
- Are you going to do more and production?
- If you want to expand your business, first think about how much you can sacrifice your core business, and whether this business will be a natural continuation of the main activity. In business, it is very important to understand where you should not be. We abandoned the idea of our own production - we are much better at marketing and sales. We could not offer a format for convenience stores either. If grandmothers who live in the neighborhood go to the outlet for milk, no one needs us there. But we decided to expand the format in food courts (fast food areas in supermarkets). We are still not satisfied with what happened when we opened our mini-cafes at several sites. Mistakes were quite natural, because if a company is ten years old and works in the same format, it often drags along a way of selling “from the product”, and not “from the buyer”. Usually we serve people who eat in minutes, on the go - but the food court turned out to be a slightly different situation. In a shopping center, a person can spend much more time on food. He can sit down and quietly have a bite, and “two-armed food” will be very appropriate (of course, for our competitors, not for us). If you do not take into account these subtleties, you will serve only those people who are in a hurry in shopping centers. But you have to pay not only for putting an end to the food court, but also for the tables! Where we need to develop in this case, we know: there should be more food, a wider range of it, and it still has to be convenient. It is desirable that it can be eaten with your hands: it is difficult to manage plastic cutlery, and no one wants to go broke on metal ones. Also, new color schemes, new sauces, fresh rather than canned vegetables, etc. may appear. In general, our platform allows such an expansion. I think we will finalize the concept of mini cafes in food courts within the next year.
- In parallel, you are now engaged in the KFC franchise. KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) already has three official franchisors in Russia, all of them in Moscow. Will you compete with each other for convenient platforms?
- The agreement with franchisors is as follows: the one who started negotiations on this site earlier has priority by default. This applies to points and restaurants "in line", that is, standing separately. At food courts, the situation is more complicated and will have to be decided collectively. Nevertheless, the main development of the KFC chain should be in the city. But this is not easy: real estate prices in the capital are unreasonably high, while Moscow was built without taking into account the possibility of the emergence of operators offering catering services. The first floors of most buildings are completely unsuitable for these purposes. It used to be like this: the bulk of the population ate in the canteen at the enterprise or at home. Of course, the main and strongest competitor for KFC is Rostik. Its main advantage is that it has been on the market for a long time. There is only one way out - to open yourself and try to be better, especially since Rostik's also has disadvantages in relation to KFC. And the most important of them is that they have become a copy of this network in terms of concept. And a copy, as we have already said, cannot be better than the original... Although, of course, Rostik makes significant, quite successful efforts to differentiate itself. He's done a good job of getting into his current position. KFC will have to expend much more effort.
- Some market commentators say that you have chosen this format because you do not see the prospects for developing your own network.
- We have very big opportunities in the "convenient food" segment. With our participation, it was actively created and is now developing, we are clear leaders in it, and market development only increases opportunities. Will we be able to use them? is another question. But we want to do it.

The fair sex is forced to constantly monitor their figure. But how do we do it? We periodically go on a diet, and just as periodically (maybe a little more often) we try to fight extra pounds in the gyms. And in the interval between these “recovery procedures”, we still continue to indulge ourselves with fast food. Pizza, hot dogs, hot ham sandwiches, French fries, Coca-Cola… Harmful? Yes, of course, it is harmful, and we are well aware of this. But it's also very tasty - how can you resist such an appetizing hamburger ... And then again to the gyms. Although, in truth, we appreciate fast food not only because it is delicious, but also because it is very convenient - and you can eat it quickly enough (and this is one of the best options to satisfy hunger), and brought directly to the workplace or to the door of the apartment.

About Russian fast food

By the way, if it’s all about the speed of delivery and ease of absorption, then it’s absolutely not necessary to eat cutlets from meat grown in another hemisphere on incomprehensible dressings and eat fried potatoes with GMOs (and you didn’t know that for the production of french fries it brought here in a frozen form?) There are restaurants of real Russian cuisine, which have food delivery to the office or home is included in the range of services provided in the same way as in ordinary pizzerias. And this is not even a trend of the latest days, when taking care of your health has become not only a vital necessity, but also a kind of fashion trend. The first catering chain that practices home delivery not of some hamburgers, but of real Russian dumplings, pancakes, cold appetizers, even first courses (if you want, they will bring you real borscht, but if you want, even okroshka with real kvass, and for the second - buckwheat porridge or mashed potatoes with river fish), appeared in Russia twenty years ago. Even the French press wrote about it - oddly enough, journalists from a country distinguished by one of the most exquisite cuisines in the world were more interested in the Russian food delivery service than the Russians themselves, who had already begun to get used to McDonald's. By the way, in fact, this service could have become popular a long time ago - at one time, after a trip to the States, Mikoyan himself suggested adapting the idea of fast food and its delivery service to our conditions, but the government did not support it. Like, bourgeois culture, food delivery is somehow not socialist ...

About the benefits of Russian cuisine

Frankly speaking, Russian cuisine is not even included in the top 10 healthiest cuisines in the world. But this does not mean at all that it is harmful. In any case, it is more useful than the American one. You just need to carefully choose what to order.

Take, for example, ready-made salads. In Russian cuisine as such, there are not very many of them at all, mainly pickled vegetables are practiced as snacks of a similar plan. When choosing between Olivier and sauerkraut, it is still better to opt for the latter. Firstly, mayonnaise in a dressed salad becomes not the most useful product after a couple of hours. Secondly, fermentation is the most optimal way to preserve the maximum amount of vitamins in the product - in the same salad, especially if some of its components have been heat-treated, nothing useful remains. And when choosing between fried pork and stuffed pike, it is better to prefer fish - both healthier and tastier. And if you really want meat - let it be a rabbit. In Russian cuisine, there are unique recipes for its preparation - it turns out more tender than chicken or suckling pig meat. At the same time, the product is considered dietary - there are very few fats in it, but there are plenty of proteins.

But, what is most interesting is that all this can really be brought directly to the workplace or home. That is, in fact, the same fast food, but in the Russian style, while much tastier and healthier.

The company was founded in 1940 by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, who were the first in the world to formulate the principles of the concept of fast food. In 1955, entrepreneur Ray Kroc had the idea to develop a chain in order to increase the supply of his mixers to these establishments. He received consent to promote the company, and in 1961 he bought all the rights to it.

Most of the restaurants are operated by franchises, so the range, size and composition of portions may vary in different countries. For example, in many countries of the world, chain restaurants sell beer, but in Russia they have always been non-alcoholic.

The first Russian McDonald's (at that time the largest in the world) opened in Moscow on Pushkin Square in 1990. On that day, 30 thousand people visited it, which was a record for the network.

The interests of the network in Russia are provided by subsidiaries of the American structure - CJSC Moscow-McDonald's and LLC McDonald's. Due to the fact that the first restaurants in Moscow opened with a rental rate of 1 ruble per year, and contracts were concluded for a period up to 2041, rumors circulated that half of the chain belonged to the capital's mayor's office. The state enterprise Mosrestoranservice was indeed a co-founder and is listed as a co-owner of McDonald's in Russia. In 2010, the Moscow government tried to challenge the conditions and raise the rate to at least a thousand rubles, but the court sided with the network. The franchising scheme for opening restaurants in Russia began to be applied only in April 2012, after Subway overtook McDonald's in the number of eateries in Moscow.

Last year, the company's revenue grew by 19.6% - up to 55.4 billion rubles, while the year before - by 24.8%. The slowdown occurs from year to year.

subway

In 1965, 17-year-old Fred DeLuca told a family friend, Dr. Peter Buck, that he wanted to become a doctor and needed money for education. He advised to open a kiosk selling sandwiches and gave Fred a thousand dollars - start-up capital for the future institution. Soon the first Super Submarine Pete's kiosk appeared in Connecticut. The sandwich was shaped like a submarine, and was called a "submarine" and then shortened to a "sub".

Ten years later, the partners began to actively use the franchising scheme, transferring restaurants to management, and ten years later they solemnly celebrated the opening of the thousandth Subway restaurant. By August 2014, the network has 42,000 restaurants in one hundred and seven countries. In terms of the number of restaurants, it is ahead of McDonald's.

In Russia, the company began to actively develop in 2004, opening the first restaurant in St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt. Today it is the only chain of restaurants represented in the Far East. The master franchise is owned by the American company Subway Russia Franchising Company, its owners are US citizens, the activities of the network in Russia are monitored by a representative office located in Moscow.

KFC

Until 1991, the network was called « Fried chicken from Kentucky" , which reflected specialization in chicken. KFC is the second largest cafe chain in the world, second only to McDonald's. As of December 2013, it has more than 18 thousand points in one hundred and eighteen countries of the world. The company is owned by Yum! Brands, which also includes Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

KFC was founded by Harland Sanders, who began selling fried chicken during the Great Depression. He promoted the franchise to other states and regions. Thanks to the company, chicken has become an integral part of fast food and has gained the same popularity as the hamburger. Sanders himself, who called himself "the colonel", became an important figure in American cultural life, and his image is still used in the interiors and advertising of KFC. In 2013, KFC generated $23 billion in sales.

In Russia, KFC cooperated with the Rosinter company (Il Patio, Planet Sushi, Friday’s chains), cafes opened for a long time under the Rostik’s brand. In 2005 Rostik Group and Yum! Brands signed a cooperation agreement, which included the formation of a new unified brand "Rostik's - KFC". In 2011, an American company bought all the rights to the Russian part of the chain and returned the name KFC. In 2013, there were 245 outlets in Russia. The management plans that by 2015 450 restaurants will operate in Russia and the CIS.

Burger King

James McLamore and David Edgerton opened the first Burger King in 1954 in Miami. After visiting McDonald's, McLamore got excited about the idea of creating his own fast food. In 2002, the company was acquired by a pool of investors for $1.5 billion, which includes Goldman Sachs, TPG and Bain funds. Ten years later, the company's capitalization amounted to 4.6 billion dollars.

The first chain restaurant in Russia was opened in early 2010 in the Metropolis shopping center, and the second in the Evropeisky shopping mall. Today, there are 220 chain restaurants in Russia, 121 of them in Moscow and the Moscow region.

In Russia, Burger King operates through a franchising system, it is represented by Burger Rus LLC, a joint company of Burger King Europe, the owner of the Shokoladnitsa chain, Alexander Kolobov, and VTB Capital. By 2016, the network plans to increase the number of outlets in Russia to five hundred. In place of the points of the Coffee House coffee shop, which was absorbed by the competitive Chocolate Girl, burger shops may appear. If this happens, Burger King will overtake McDonald's in the number of restaurants.

"Teremok"

In the late nineties, businessman Mikhail Goncharov developed a plan to create stalls with national cuisine - Russian pancakes with fillings. The first Teremok opened in Moscow in 1999 near the Aeroport metro station. Over time, the company entered the top four largest fast food chains in Russia, then Teremok restaurants opened. This year, information appeared that Goncharov plans to open outlets in America. In 2013, the turnover amounted to 2.65 billion rubles in Moscow and 2.3 billion rubles in St. Petersburg.

«Stardog!s»

In 1993, Russian businessman Sergei Shikharev bought meat and meat products from Denmark. There, he noticed many small stalls offering delicious hot dogs. There was nothing like this in Moscow, so he returned to Russia with the idea of creating a similar network. Shikharev signed an agreement with the Steff Houlberg company, and soon the first Steff kiosk appeared in the city center. By the end of the nineties, there were a hundred tents, but during the crisis, business began to decline because the company could no longer work with Steff Houlberg. They decided to abandon the name "Steff", instead of it the "Stop Top" logo appeared.

In 2004, the company underwent a new rebranding, having received the name Stardog!s. Now it has 702 points of sale in sixteen regions. Most of them work around the clock. The hit of sales, like ten years ago, is the French hot dog.

"Tea spoon"

The idea for a Russian-style bistro came to St. Petersburg restaurateurs Boris Krupkin and Mikhail Avgustin, who had previously created the first gay club in the city - "69". In the crisis year, they decided to master the lower price segment, providing an average bill lower than that of McDonald's. 55 cafes opened in St. Petersburg, in 2009 the first restaurant opened in Klaipeda. 24% of the shares belong to the Neva-Rus fund, 19% - to private shareholders.

"Little Potato"

In 1998, Andrei Kononchuk and Vitaly Naumenko registered the Technology and Nutrition company. In August, the first point of the autocafe network was opened in Moscow. The main product is a whole potato baked in foil with a filling (cheese, butter and salads to choose from). For a long time, the chain worked in the format of street kiosks, and since 2003 it has appeared in the food courts of shopping centers.

According to information at the end of 2012, the Kroshka Kartoshka network includes more than 300 establishments, including 76 cafes in Moscow. The network is actively represented in Russian million-plus cities and is one of the five largest players in the market.

"Wokker"

Alexei Gisak worked as a copywriter for the BBDO Group and designed advertising campaigns for Pepsi and Mars until he wanted to become an entrepreneur himself. In 2008, from a trip to Amsterdam, he brought the idea of pan-Asian food, which had never happened before in Moscow. Gisak and his friends registered the company: 70% from Alexei himself, 20% and 10% from Daniil Ostrovsky and Inna Petrova, his colleagues in the advertising market. Participation in food festivals helped the business: in one day of work at the Afisha Picnic festival, about a thousand portions of food were sold. Then word of mouth worked, I didn’t even have to spend money on advertising.

At first, Walker worked as a wok delivery service throughout the city, then points appeared at food courts in shopping centers. In 2012, the first Pan-Asian restaurant with affordable prices was opened. A year later, Vokker's revenue began to amount to 35 million rubles a month, while Gisak's other project, Supculture, was only 2.5 million. Now Walker, like its competitors, is developing its franchise network.