Subway, the world’s No. 2 fast-food restaurant chain by sales, plans to expand its Russian network to 1,000 outlets by 2015 from 78 now and make Russia its fourth-biggest European market next year.
Russia is considered underpenetrated by fast-food chains, with McDonald’s, the world’s biggest, having opened about 300 outlets in Russia since 1990.
Smaller rival Burger King plans to open its first Russian restaurant in Moscow this year.
“By next year, the Russian market will become the fourth-largest for us in Europe,” Kevin Graham, president of Subway Russia, told Adam Smith Conferences’ Russian Agri-Food business forum.
“Our strategic goal is to have opened 1,000 restaurants in Russia before 2015.”
Subway’s biggest European market, Britain, has 1,359 outlets, according to the company’s web site, followed by Germany, with 785, France, with 168, and Ireland, with 110.
Fast-food restaurants have been more resilient to the global economic crisis than other segments of the restaurant industry because of their relatively low prices.
Privately held Subway is developing through franchise partners in Russia. It currently has 78 outlets in Russia, rising to 100 by February next year, Graham said, adding that the chain would add 75 new restaurants in 2010 alone.
“The crisis has obviously affected the fast-food industry’s performance in Russia,” he said, estimating that sales at fast-food restaurants in Russia fell 2 percent in the first half of 2009.
Subway does not disclose its own sales figures, but Graham said the company’s Russian same-store sales fell by 4 percent in January-June and customer traffic declined 10 percent.
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