KFC Morocco plans open 10 more outlets in 2023 in ambitious expansion drive
MOROCCO – KFC Morocco has announced plans to open ten new restaurants in different cities of the Kingdom by the end of 2023 in an ambitious expansion drive.
The franchise of American fast-food chain giant KFC is focusing particularly on service stations for its chains, a novelty for the brand’s franchise in Morocco.
“The novelty is that fans of KFC’s fried chicken recipes will now be able to find the brand in service stations,” reads a press release published by the company.
As per KFC’s initial expansion plan announced at the start of 2022, the fast-food brand opened ten restaurants with an overall investment of MAD 30 million (us$2.9 million) in the same year, intending to increase to a total of 35, the number of brands available to KFC in Morocco.
“Through this year’s expansion plan, we are committed to being closer to our customers by serving them quality meals with the best international standards. To achieve this, we rely on the promotion and use of Moroccan products,” KFC Morocco Regional Operations Director Anas Kadmiri said in a press release.
The African Foodservice Market is projected to register a CAGR of 7.99% over the next forecast period of 2023 – 2028, according to Mordor Intelligence.
The expanding food service market in the region is fueled by increasing disposable income, increasing visitor and ex-pat arrivals, improving urban lifestyles, and altering consumer preferences.
Supported by a stable government and dining and eating-out trends and an inclination toward casual dining, localization of cuisines, and food stalls, combined with the availability of many international cuisines, provide customers with new experiences, thus increasing their spending on meals away from home.
The growth has enticed many American chains, such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Domino’s Pizza, to invest more in establishing roots in the continent.
Gro Intelligence notes that KFC is the most widespread Western chain in the entire continent, with restaurants in 16 countries, from economic powerhouses like Nigeria and Kenya to somewhat more surprising places like Namibia and Malawi.
Recently, KFC has indicated that it plans to establish itself in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Senegal, but is yet to offer a timeline for when this might happen.
According to the CEO of Naked Pizza Kenya, Ritesh Doshi, Africa has some “interesting” growth opportunities, but also some significant challenges, “with supply chain and logistics costs coming [at the] top of that list, very closely followed by duties.”
The biggest challenges, according to Doshi, have been “price, consistency of supply, [and] suppliers’ willingness to tailor products for the market.”
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