Popeyes Plans To Continue Rapid International Growth

The world apparently loves that chicken from Popeyes.

The fast food chain has grown dramatically in the international market in recent years and eyes additional expansion in new and existing countries in the future.

Since being acquired by Restaurant Brands International (RBI) in 2017, Popeyes has grown from more than 500 international locations that generated approximately $300 million in annual system sales to nearly 1,300 restaurants and more than $1 billion in systemwide sales. Same-store sales increased 19.4 percent in the second quarter of this year.

Popeyes broke into Spain in 2019 with the help of a Burger King operator. It is now up to 140 restaurants in the country with many more opportunities there for more expansion. The chain added more than 50 restaurants each in the U.K. and India over the past three years and brought 16 units to France in about a year.

It recently added its first restaurant in New Zealand, which is projected to earn $6 million in annual sales, making it one of the strongest country debuts for the brand. Popeyes entered Costa Rica in July with a restaurant that saw nearly 1,800 transactions on its first day.

“We’ve got some big markets that are starting to get to relevant scale,” Restaurant Brands International CEO Joshua Kobza said in an interview with QSR Magazine. “Places that I mentioned like Spain, the U.K., India, those are starting to ramp up their development pace, but we’re opening some new markets as well. And I would say the results of those new markets have been really encouraging. So all that are the kinds of the projects that we’re working on for 2025.”

Popeyes ended Q2 with 1,298 international stores, a considerable increase from 975 units in Q2 of 2023. The international business will be a major driver in RBI reaching a projected 4 percent unit growth in 2024 with more in the future.

RBI announced in July that it had acquired Popeyes China for $15 million. Popeyes broke into China in August 2023 and currently has 14 restaurants in Shanghai. RBI expects additional growth with investments in local teams and restaurant development. The company considers China to be one of the fastest-growing quick-service markets in the world.

“So in Popeyes, we were really encouraged by how the brand was received initially,” said Kobza. “And I would say the shift is just for us to take it on and make sure it has the capital and the support it needs to realize its full potential. So I’d say not a big like brand positioning or strategy shift there. I think we’ll just be working on building up the team and then building up the development pipeline to make sure that we start growing that at the pace that we think makes sense. So that’s the game plan there.”

Popeyes ended Q2 with 3,086 restaurants in the United States. It wants to reach 4,000 units in the U.S. and Canada by 2028 and increase profitability for U.S. franchisees close to $300,000.

The full article about Popeyes' international growth can be found HERE.