Genesis BBQ Group has made its official debut in South Africa, marking its first venture into the African food market, the South Korean fried chicken franchise said Wednesday.
The group’s flagship brand, BBQ, signed a master franchise agreement with Good Tree South Africa, a local distributor of Korean food products, at its Seoul headquarters.
Under the agreement, Good Tree will have the exclusive rights to develop, operate and manage all BBQ franchise locations in the country.
"South Africa is a strategic bridgehead for full-fledged entry into the African continent and a key hub to accelerate the global expansion of K-food," said Yoon Hong-geun, chairman of Genesis BBQ Group. "We will make efforts to expand the culture of Korean food centered on 'K-chicken' throughout Africa with differentiated menus tailored to local culture."
In collaboration with Good Tree, which operates about 3,000 supermarkets, BBQ plans to open quick service restaurant (QSR)-type stores in major cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein.
South Africa’s population of 63.2 million and youthful median age of just 28 underpin BBQ’s decision to enter the market.
“South Africa’s food culture related to chicken has developed to the extent that it exceeds half of the total meat consumption, and the annual consumption of chicken per capita is about 36 kilograms," the official added.
sunblessyou@heraldcorp.com
