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Burger King set to open 400 outlets in France

US fast food giant Burger King looks set to take a big bite out of the French market, after they announced this week they would be opening up to 400 new restaurants throughout the country.

Burger King set to open 400 outlets in France
Burger King to take a big bite out of the French fast food market. Photo: Anne Christine Poujoulat/AFP

There was exciting news for fans of Le Whopper this week as the American fast food chain announced plans for an expansion which will see 350 – 400 new Burger King restaurants opening across France.

The new expansion plans follow the burger giant's latest partnership with French restaurant group Olivier Bertrand, which also runs the renowned Brasserie Lipp in Saint Germain-des-Près, among 250 other restaurants.

Olivier Bertrand, CEO of the eponymous group, described the joint venture as “a real shift, a strong acceleration for the group, the kick-off for the Burger King expansion in France.”

“We are aiming for a 20% slice of the [burger] market in France… A real leading product in the burger sector.”

Betrand told La Tribune that the expansion would create 1,200 new jobs in France.

In France, the burger chain market is dominated by McDonalds, which has 1,200 restaurants and outlets across the country. Belgian-owned burger chain Quick has just 370. 

Burger King's return may delight lovers of Le Whopper but it may be not be to everyone's taste, however there is no denying the rise of fast food in France. Earlier this year The Local reported how sales of fast food products like pizzas and burgers etc had outgrown those of traditional French restaurants. (click below for the full story)

Fast food dethrones traditional French cuisine

Interestingly, Burger King looks set to open a similar number of outlets as Quick, adding fuel to rumours, circulating in October, that the American company had actually bought out Quick.

However, José E Cil, president of Burger King in France, told La Tribune on Tuesday that the rumours were false.

Following Burger King’s partnership with Italian group Autogrill in 2012, The Local reported how American chain’s tentative return to the French market, after a 16-year absence, with the opening of just two outlets: one in the Marseille Provence airport and another in a service station near Reims.

Parisians can rejoice though, as the first new Paris branch of Burger King is set to open its doors on the 17th December.

By Naomi Firsht

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STAVANGER

Norway Burger King ordered to close for breaking corona rules

A branch of Burger King in Norway was ordered to close on Saturday night after inspectors judged it was allowing customers to rub up too closely together.

Norway Burger King ordered to close for breaking corona rules
The branch of Burger King in Stavanger's main square. Photo: Google Maps
The restaurant in Stavanger, the capital of the country's oil industry, was visited by inspectors from the city government late on Saturday night, and judged not to be meeting infection control requirements.  
 
“The restaurant was closed because they did not comply with the guidelines for distance between the customers,” Øyvind Berekvam, a spokesperson for the municipality, told Norway's state broadcaster NRK
 
Norway requires all bars and restaurants to ensure that customers and personnel can maintain a distance between one another of at least one metre. 
 
Heidi Moss, the marketing manager for King Food, which has run Burger King's Norway franchise sine 1988, said that the chain was looking at how to make sure there could be no infringements at its other 109 restaurants in the country. 
 
“We are of course taking the event in Stavanger very seriously,” she told NRK. “We want to avoid similar situations and are right now looking at measures that can be implemented.”
 
She said she was considering where possible putting place a one-way system in restaurants with separate entrances and exits, and also perhaps hiring security guards. 
 
 
The closure marked the first time a bar or restaurant has been shut down for non-compliance in Stavanger since the coronavirus pandemic began in March. 
 
Runar Johannessen, the head of infection control in Stavanger, said he believed that all nightspots should employ security guards to make sure customers follow distancing requirements. 
 
“It is a challenge to adhere to the guidelines when there is as little contagion as there is now, but with no idea how this develops,” he said. 
 
For example, it may be to return to stay open day and night, guard when there are many guests waiting and differentiated entrance and exit so that there is a one-way walk through the restaurant, according to the marketing manager.
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