Popeyes announces its return to S. Korea

Popeyes fried chicken fast-food chain is returning to South Korea after its business was pulled out in the country in December 2020. Its parent company and operator, Restaurant Brands International (RBI), confirmed this week that it had inked an exclusive master franchise deal with NLC, its new partner and subsidiary of the Silla deep-sea fishery company.

As per The Korea Times, the Popeyes restaurant will open its first outlet in the country under the management of NLC by the end of this year. It was said that RBI had spent some time mulling whether to bring Popeyes back to Seoul or not. This is because the company already failed the first time the brand entered the Korean market.

It was reported that Silla also played a role in convincing RBI in bringing back Popeyes to the region. Silla laid out its plans for the fried chicken fast-food chain and showed that it would apply its distinguished strategy to win in the crowded fast-food market in Korea. NLC is very confident it can make the chain popular again by bringing in more customers.

"Chicken is one of the most loved food categories in Korea and we are proud to have brought back Popeyes, a globally well-known brand," an official of NLC stated. "We also believe our aggressive expansion of the fried chicken restaurant chain can greatly contribute to the country's economy by creating new jobs."

It was the TS Food & System (TS F&S) that operated Popeyes when it first landed in the country. It signed a master franchise contract with RBI in 1994, and 200 stores were opened at that time.

However, the business failed after being left behind by other chicken fast-food chains, and business performance has been poor. This led to the termination of Popeyes' contract with TS F&S as of the end of 2020. In any case, it was earlier this year when RBI first announced that Popeyes was officially returning to Korea under new management.

"We are thrilled to launch Popeyes with the Silla Group subsidiary," David Shear, president of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, said in a press release. "We have strong confidence in the group and are pleased to announce exciting plans to bring our iconic Louisiana-style chicken to one of the largest chicken QSR markets in the world and our entry illustrates our commitment to serving more guests around the world and the execution of our growth plans for the Asia Pacific region."