Sabir Sami, CEO, KFC Division: "We see "huge" opportunities in Eastern Europe and Romania"

The market in Eastern Europe and Romania presents "immense" opportunities, said Sabir Sami, CEO of KFC Division, within YUM!, the KFC franchisor worldwide, yesterday during a press conference in Bucharest.

The head of KFC Division said: "We are the fastest growing retail brand in the world. We are practically opening seven new units a day and we see huge opportunities in the Eastern European market and in Romania; growth opportunities. But we also see potential in Asia, Africa, Latin America (...) even in the United States".

According to representatives of the YUM! group, there are 1,000 KFC restaurants in Central and Eastern Europe, a milestone that will soon be surpassed. "We want to grow quickly. We plan to open hundreds of restaurants in the coming years, and Romania is one of the countries that will play an important role", said Maria Cacciapuoti, Central and Eastern Europe General Manager of KFC, estimating a 10% contribution of the new restaurants opened in Romania , to the total growth in the region.

According to the representatives of YUM!, globally, sales through digital channels represent about 45-46% of the total, but in Romania digital sales have reached about 70%, being continuously growing." Romania is above the average of the countries of Central Europe and East, where the percentage is 55-60%," said Maria Cacciapuoti.

However, the group's target is to reach 100% digital sales, but it is difficult to estimate when this goal will be achieved globally, as the situation is different from country to country. "In Europe, I believe that, in the next few years, sales will reach 100% through digital channels. But in Africa or South America it is more difficult, because more cash is used there", said Sabir Sami.

In our country, KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell products are sold, in a franchise system, by Sphera Franchise Group, a company listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

"Sphera is a great franchise that has a deep and broad understanding of the market. It has been working for over 25 years and the partnership is with YUM! it's for all three brands, not just KFC. We know each other very well, we support each other, we learn from each other and we have the ambition to grow together", said Maria Cacciapuoti.

For the first nine months of the year, Sphera reported total sales of 1.07 billion lei, up 12.7% compared to the same period in 2022, while net profit rose to 42.9 million lei, with 175% over the first three quarters of last year.