“The market in the area (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) is still underdeveloped but is under strong socioeconomic growth,” says Eva Regulyova, a senior operations manager for Villa. “The countries´ economies are bursting, and buying power of customers is increasing along with GNP.” One result, she says, is an increased demand for Western brands.

With around 50 units each, McDonald’s and KFC are the area’s most dominant quick-service names, having entered the market in the early 1990s. In addition to the latter, AmRest, the largest franchise-holding company in Central and Eastern Europe, operates other American brands, including Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and Burger King. The only homegrown chains worth mentioning, Regulyova says, are health-oriented soup, salad, and sandwich concept BioCafes, sandwich purveyor Boulevard Crocodile, and coffee concept Coffee Heaven. Chinese has been introduced, but she says the two examples are of poor quality and cleanliness.

“There are still gaps in the market,” Regulyova says. “In general, people are looking for other alternatives of eating out and, of course, … high quality food and service.”

Chicken, she says, is more popular than burgers, and snack foods, such as doughnuts, don’t get much of a response. Coffee is a favorite of young people and women.

“Czech Republic was considered the fastest growing coffee chain market in the world last year,” Regulyova says, though oversaturation might be occurring.

In general, capital cities in the region are considered hot markets, and rural areas with higher unemployment and lower average income should be avoided, she says.

Southeast Asia

India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and with the country’s newfound wealth has developed a demand for fast, convenient meal options.

“The quick-service restaurant segment is one of the quickest growing segments of the retail sector in India,” says Manpreet Gulri, a Subway franchisee and area development manager there. “With nuclear families and increasing disposable incomes of the middle class in India, this is a great sector for entrepreneurs to invest in.”

Gulri and his brother, Gurpreet, own 11 Subway restaurants across the country and oversee a network of about 120 units owned and operated by others.

Aside from Subway, other quick-service players in the market include Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald’s, Domino’s, and Papa Johns, as well as homegrown chains such as Nirula’s and Yo China. As more competitors move in, Gulri says, understanding the Indian consumer will be the key to success.

For starters, beef is taboo, and in some areas pork should be avoided, too.

“A vast majority of the customer base is vegetarian, and you can definitely expect a part of the menu to be vegetarian,” Gulri says. Many customers will also expect a separate prep area and even service counter for vegetarian items.

In general, Gulri says, consumers in India like their food spicy and prefer traditional offerings or Indianized versions of foods. Chinese cuisine is also popular. Western food, such as pizza or burgers, is an acquired taste. To make it work, chains have to create a customer base for themselves.

Indian consumers also expect a lot from the restaurants that serve them.

“Indians are very price sensitive and value conscious,” Gulri says. “They expect exceptional service, even at a quick-service restaurant.”

Finding employees to provide that service can be a challenge. Business process outsourcing companies tend to snap up the English-speaking talent. In order to compete for workers, Gulri says incentives and comparable salaries are necessary.