The next big fast food market in SA – Mexican food
Famous Brands has moved to get a jump start on what is sees as the next ‘big thing’ in the South African fast-casual restaurant environments: Mexican cuisine.
The group announced that it has acquired a 51% controlling stake in the recently launched Salsa Mexican Grill, which opened in Fourways, Gauteng, in June 2015.
“Within the South African context, our research revealed that a gap exists in the Fast Casual Mexican cuisine space,” said Famous Brands CEO, Darren Hele.
“Although we explored the possibility of establishing a start-up concept of our own, by acquiring a controlling stake in Salsa Mexican Grill we gained significant strategic advantage given the brand’s first-to-market head-start and best-in-class offering.”
According to Famous Brands, globally, fast-casual Mexican concepts are experiencing double-digit growth and the group anticipates that Salsa Mexican Grill will quickly mirror that trend.
“It is well known that local consumers enjoy spicy flavours and are increasingly willing to try new varieties of modern, authentic cuisine,” Hele said.
In the USA, consumption of Mexican food is increasing at a faster rate than any other segment of the restaurant industry, and is the third most popular menu type at 8% of restaurants, the group’s research showed.
In the UK, Mexican restaurants have increased in number by 71% in the past year.
According to Famous Brands, the short-term goal with the Salsa chain is to open more restaurants to keep pace with growing demand. Initially, the brand will be focused around Gauteng, with plans to grow ‘relatively quickly’.
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