With the opening of several dozen restaurants in a few years, the new fast food chain “Big M” is beginning to make a name for itself in French cities.
In a rapidly expanding fast food market in France, its two founders made a winning bet on the hamburger, with the idea of offering products inspired by the “best sellers” of the big classic brands in the same place. On the menu: almost exact imitations of the Giant (Quick), the Whopper (Burger King), the Tower (KFC) or even the Big Mac, the 280 or the Big Tasty (McDonald’s).
In 2019, a first restaurant opened its doors in Bondy, in Seine-Saint-Denis, inspired by American or Asian “foodcourts”, places where various restaurant brands and communal tables meet. Driven by the success of the Bondy restaurant, thanks in particular to the strong demand for fast food delivery in times of health crisis, “we created a franchise structure, with specifications,” explains Mehdi Bella, co-founder of Big M with his partner Yannis Ourabia. The first franchise restaurants were created at the end of the following year.
Sixty restaurants
In just a few years, Big M has multiplied its new restaurants throughout France. The fast food brand now has 60 restaurants, including 51 franchises and 9 branches. However, inflation and supply difficulties, especially in the case of potatoes, forced the company to take its foot off the accelerator, without giving up the development of the network. “During the last two years we have navigated a bit by sight,” underlines Mehdi Bella, giving as an example the weakness of the potato harvest.
Its “double menu” is one of the keys to success: it brings together, for example, a copy of the Big Mac (McDonald’s) and the Giant (Quick) in the same meal. Big M claims to have worked for a long time to reproduce the recipes.
For the sauces, “we gave specifications to a Belgian company” so that it could reproduce those of the big brands, explains Mehdi Bella, modifying them slightly (more sugar in particular). To expand the offering beyond “copies”, wraps and “bao burgers” have also been added to the menus. Plus, the meat is completely halal.
“Incomparable” recipes
Regarding the reaction of the big fast food brands, “McDonald’s criticized us for certain things”, such as the names of certain burgers on the Big M menu that were later modified, “but that is no longer a problem today “. “says the co-founder. Questioned by BFM Business, McDonald’s France declared that it “pays great attention to scrupulous respect for intellectual property”, further stating that its “iconic recipes” were “incomparable”. Quick France and KFC France did not want to comment. .
Big M reached a turnover of 40 million euros in 2023, after 30 million euros the previous year.
Source: BFM TV
