The Burger King Corporation has awarded exclusive development rights for Japan to Burger King Japan Co. Ltd., a joint venture between Lotte Co. Ltd. and Revamp Corporation.
The company’s first BURGER KING® restaurant is scheduled to open in Tokyo in the first half of 2007.
“Japan presents significant opportunities for BURGER KING® and is important to our international development strategy,” says John Chidsey, CEO of Burger King Corporation. “We believe this is the right time for the BURGER KING® brand to enter this market.”
The Lotte Group, which includes Lotte Co. Ltd., is a large international conglomerate founded in Tokyo in 1948. The Lotte Group consists of more than 60 business units, employing more than 60,000 people engaged in such diverse industries as confectionery manufacturing, beverages, hotels, fast food, retail, financial services, heavy chemicals, electronics, IT, construction, publishing, and entertainment. Its major operations are in Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the United States.
Peter Tan, president, Asia Pacific, of Burger King Corporation, says, “Lotte and Revamp are strong, experienced partners. With their operational focus, extensive consumer knowledge, and presence in Japan, we believe they are ideally suited to successfully introduce BURGER KING® restaurants to the country.”
The BURGER KING® system operates more than 11,100 restaurants in all 50 U.S. states and more than 65 countries and U.S. territories worldwide.
“We are confident that Japanese consumers will enjoy the wonderful taste of the flame-grilled WHOPPER® and other BURGER KING® products,” says Gen Tamatsuka, managing partner of Revamp Corporation. “We are truly excited to have the opportunity to launch BURGER KING® in Japan.”
To learn more about Burger King Corporation, please visit the company’s Web site at http://www.bk.com.