Fast food networks expand and target the interior

SAO PAULO-Brazilian's appetite for fast food is so great that even networks established in the country for decades, as the McDonald? s and Bob? s, seek to accelerate its expansion to occupy spaces before? rookies? as the Subway and Burger King. While McDonald? s opened a total of 178 points of sale in 2013-85 restaurants and ice-cream kiosks-93, Bob? s claims to have opened 140 units in the Country, but does not reveal the proportion of kiosks and cafeterias.
The dispute in the world of snacks now is for the conquest of the smaller towns and the outskirts of the major capitals. With more compact stores, requiring a relatively small investment, from r $ 250 thousand, the Subway has led the regional expansion. Only last year were 340 inaugurations, for a total of 1,388 stores in December. For 2014, the company's expectations are strong, with the goal of opening at least 360 points of sale.
The small municipalities are on the radar of Roberta Damasceno, national manager of the Subway in Brazil. With 14 regional development agents, the network is betting on alternate points, like gas stations and bus terminals. ?Fit into spaces from 40 square meters. The planning is quite aggressive. Our goal is to reach the 8 thousand units in ten years. There are still 7 thousand?, says the Executive.
A strong tendency among the traditional networks are the kiosks. So much so that the McDonald? s opened more units of this type than larger restaurants. According to sources of the food service market, the appetite for more compact format is a direct consequence of the highest margin of gelato compared to burgers. Have a consolidated ice operation is a competitive advantage of Bob? s and McDonald? s, which are quoted by the market as the strongest in this segment.
According to Sergio Molinari, Managing Director of food service area of retail consultancy Gouvea de Souza, as the ice cream is a relatively inexpensive product, ends up being an option for the class C even at the time of the month in which the salary is over. ?The person won't do the math to know that $ 4 ice cream had a total cost for the network of R $ 1?, says the expert. ?In the world of fast food, the cost-benefit factor counts very little. What matters is to fit in your pocket.?
Transport
Faced with such expansion, increases the pressure on logistics industry operators. Today, there are three major competitors in this area: Martin Brower (who attends Subway, Bob? s and McDonald? s), Fast & Food (Burger King and China in Box) and Comfrio (Outback and Starbucks). ?The scale is crucial, because transportation costs are high in Brazil?, says José Augusto Santos, commercial Director of Martin Brower. ?Between our customers, the growth was more than 500 shops in 2013.?
This fierce dispute has left victims, found the newspaper O Estado de s. Paulo. The Luft Food Service, which after years of contract lost one of its main clients, Bob? s, was sold to rival Fast Food &. Sought, the companies did not return the contact. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de s. Paulo.