Polish group Amrest, which operates the Burger King restaurant franchise on five markets - Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria - opened the first Burger King restaurant in Romania in Bucharest’s Mega Mall, on September 26.

The group’s representatives announced that a second restaurant will open in the AFI Cotroceni shopping mall shortly.

Amrest also owns Starbucks franchise in Romania, which will help it develop the Burger King network faster.

"In Romania we have the advantage that we already know, thanks to Starbucks, which are the spaces, malls and areas that work and which do not," said Daniel Ryska, Amrest regional director for CE & SEE for Burger King, according to Ziarul Financiar.

He also said that Amrest wants to open 50 restaurants in Romania over the next five years, for which it has an investment budget of RON 200 million (EUR 42 mln). Next year, the group plans to open 5-6 new units, mainly in Bucharest, and will also start developing outside Bucharest, although the locations haven’t been selected yet.

"Initially, we target the largest 5-6 cities in Romania, we look at the largest in terms of population, but also in terms of purchasing power," said Ryska.

editor@romania-insider.com

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