No, it's not war - it's fast food! The American burger chain, the main rival of McDonald's, which has become a staple of many Poles' late night diets (and many more ex-pats', we sadly admit), has just been awarded development rights to Poland.
The first ever Burger King restaurant (and we use the word 'restaurant' very loosely here) will open right here in Warsaw this spring in the new Zlote Tarasy shopping centre. They may be following Polish fast food tradition, as the first McDonald's in Poland also opened in Warsaw, right on Marszalkowska Street. Of course, McDonald's is still very stiff competition in Poland, as it's been here since 1992 and has over 200 locations. Nevertheless, Burger King is already planning many more locations over the course of the next five years.
American Restaurants Sp. z.o.o., a subsidiary of AmRest Holdings N.V., based in Wroclaw, holds the development rights to Burger King in Poland. The company already manages 138 restaurants in Poland, including the KFC and Pizza Hut franchises as well as its own brands, Rodeo Drive and FreshPoint. The good news is, we can expect more jobs for Poles from this development; the bad news is, we can probably expect some bigger bellies as well. |