Popeyes wants to conquer France. The American fast food brand, specializing in fried chicken burgers, hopes to open 300 restaurants in France by 2032, reports Le Parisien. After a first failure in the south of the country in 2018, the Louisiana fast food chain returned to French soil in February 2023, beginning its return with the opening of a restaurant in the Gare du Nord neighborhood, in Paris.
For now, this new attempt is proving conclusive: two years after its arrival, the fast food chain has 18 restaurants in France. In 2024 alone, Popeyes has opened a dozen establishments and three “dark kitchens”, that is, kitchens dedicated exclusively to delivery. And the brand does not intend to slow down and intends to open thirty restaurants each year to reach its goal of 300 restaurants.
“We tested various formats in different types of cities,” including Mulhouse, Lille or Carcassonne, its general director for France, Olivier Rodrigo, explains to Le Parisien, adding that the development plan has been tightened “in the big cities” until 2026.
Openings are planned for 2025 in Marseille, Toulouse and Cergy-Pontoise. Until now it has only developed its own business, the brand will open its first franchise restaurants next year, “with the desire to maintain 50% of its own openings,” he specifies.
4,300 restaurants around the world
The Canadian group Restaurant Brands International, owner of Popeyes and also parent of Burger King, has entrusted the master franchise for France and the United Kingdom to the British investment fund TDR Capital. The French start-up was carried out by the Napaqaro group (Buffalo Grill), in turn owned by TDR Capital, but Popeyes France has freed itself from this and now constitutes an autonomous brand in its portfolio, with its own headquarters and its own purchasing center. , as announced by the specialized media Snacking.
About 4,300 restaurants now display Popeyes colors around the world, most of them in the United States. Europe is one of its battlefields: in addition to France, Italy has been launched in 2024, after Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and even Poland.
Source: BFM TV
