Russia revives fried chicken chain Rostic’s after KFC owner finalises exit
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KFC’s US parent company Yum! Brands last week finalised its exit from Russia, transferring master franchise rights to Smart Service.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW – Former KFC restaurants in Russia will begin reopening as Rostic’s on Tuesday, as the new owners revive a brand born soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union as Russia transitioned abruptly from communism to capitalism in the 1990s.
KFC’s US parent company Yum! Brands last week finalised its exit from Russia, transferring master franchise rights to Smart Service, a local franchisee led by Mr Konstantin Kotov and Mr Andrey Oskolkov.
The deal included all its Russian KFC restaurants, operating system and the trademark for the Rostic’s brand. The price was not disclosed.
Rostic’s originally launched in 1993 and became KFC’s vehicle for expansion in Russia. It had more than 1,000 restaurants in the country before Yum! Brands announced plans to exit in 2022 after Russia dispatched troops to Ukraine.
KFC partnered with Rostic’s in 2005 before later buying it out. At Tuesday’s launch in Moscow, KFC’s red and white colours were on full show.
The new owners, who had previously operated about 40 restaurants, said the possibility of Yum! Brands one day returning to Russia had not been ruled out. Yum! Brands could not immediately be reached for comment.
Madrid-based AmRest Holdings, a major franchisee that operated more than 200 restaurants, in February said it had sold its restaurant business to Smart Service in a deal worth around €100 million (S$147.4 million).
Smart Service is responsible for rebranding and retaining employees.
The revamp mirrors that of former McDonald’s restaurants, which were also taken over by a local licensee last summer and rebranded as Vkusno & tochka, or “Tasty & that’s it”.
But while McDonald’s imposed stringent restrictions on the use of its brand and products, KFC’s brand will linger as franchisees with existing agreements can remain open, Mr Kotov said. Furthermore, the menu will barely change.
“We have reached an agreement that we will keep the full menu and only four items will be renamed in it - the dishes themselves, tastes and quality, which were the components of our brand, will stay as is,” Mr Kotov said, as quoted by Tass news agency last November. REUTERS
