Burger King ‘to corner France’s halal market’

US fast food giant Burger King, which has taken over the chain Quick in France, is to leave around 40 stores under the original name, which will be turned into "100 percent halal" fast food outlets, according to reports on Tuesday.

Published: 15 December 2015 16:42 CET

Burger King 'to corner France's halal market'

Veiled women passe by a Halal Quick fast-food restaurant in the northern French city of Roubaix. Photo: AFP

French competition authorities last week gave the green light for Burger King's takeover of the 405 outlets of Quick in France.

But it's not over in France for the Belgian fast-food chain yet, sources told Le Parisien on Tuesday.

Burger King is reportedly going to keep around 40 stores under the name Quick – around ten percent of the total in France – and switch their meat so it is entirely halal, the paper reported.

This means all bacon and pork-based meals will be scrapped from the menu and all the beef and chicken used will be certified halal.

The move is understood to be part of Burger King's continued attempt to take on McDonald's – the behemoth of the French fast food world with around 1,300 stores.

Quick already has around 20 halal restaurants in France, where all the meat used comes from animals slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.

The restaurants have proven to be winners in a country with an estimated Muslim population of 5 million – the biggest in Europe.

Halal food is a huge market in itself, estimated to be worth over €5 billion, noted the paper.

The majority shareholder of Burger King France, Groupe Bertrand, is expected to finalize the acquisition of Quick later this month.