American hamburger chain, Burger King, on Thursday officially opened its first franchise in South Africa.
Currently opened on Heerengracht Street, close to the Civic Centre down in Cape Town; the company expects to create 5 000 jobs in the first five years.
JSE-listed Grand Parade Investments led by Hassen Adams brought Burger King to South Africa.
Six stores are expected to open before the end of the year, including places like Tyger Valley and Cavendish, GrandWest Casino and Johannesburg.
“By the end of the year we should have about six up and running, more or less. We want to try and get at least two drive-throughs done still in this year but those are the big ones where you start to have to do a lot of construction work and so on. There are two, one in Tyger Valley that’s opening about a month after this one or six weeks after this one and one in Cavendish that will also open about the same time, more or less. We’re looking at one in GrandWest Casino, which will also open up very soon, when I say very soon, within the next two to three-month period,” Hassen said in an interview with Money web.
However, while some customers have seen the arrival of Burger King as a welcome development, others have expressed their displeasure as the store is halaal-certified and thus does not serve bacon.
Burger King South Africa chief executive Jaye Sinclair says that introducing the bacon Whopper would mean telling Muslim and Jewish patrons that they’re not welcome and that they are discriminated against.
Burger King said the decision to be 100% halaal was to ensure that no South African is excluded from having the chance to experience a Burger King product in any of their stores.
“As such we have decided not to serve bacon. We stand by our decision.”
Although the brand impact of Burger King is yet to be seen, the franchise is expected to shake up competition in the South Africa franchise industry, especially for McDonalds, which has been in the country for nearly 20 years.
Franchise Association of South Africa executive director, Vera Valasis, said: “The extra competition will further develop growth opportunities for existing and future quick service brands looking to compete in the market.”
Burger King South Africa boss is however, confident that the brand will take off. Sinclair says this is the right time to break into the local market.
“We have a big enough middle class to support a brand like Burger King. We believe there is a lot of growth in the market and that our offering will find a lot of traction.”
