Wingstop, the rapidly-growing and technology-forward fast casual wing restaurant, today announced an agreement for the development rights for South Korea, contributing to its robust international expansion pipeline. The agreement outlines an initial commitment of 60 restaurants over a ten-year period, with the potential for 200-250 total restaurants in the country, the first expected to open in early 2023.
Korea is a key growth market outlined in Wingstop’s strategic roadmap to becoming a Top 10 Global Restaurant Brand. This expansion follows the brand’s proven strategy that has been formative and successful in other international markets. Wingstop’s industry-leading digital business will reach the masses through use of its sophisticated tech stack – for both in-restaurant and off-premise occasions – playing to Korea’s highly-digitized economy and widespread adoption of food delivery.
“The established demand for western brands and a tech-savvy, delivery-centric consumer base in Korea is expected to prime Wingstop’s success,” said Nicolas Boudet, Wingstop’s President of International. “This agreement demonstrates the brand’s strong global expansion momentum, on the heels of development milestones in Canada and Indonesia. In partnership with an established operator in the region, we look forward to bringing our craveable flavor experience to Korea – a vibrant market that is influential in the Asia-Pacific region and a key growth lever for our business.”
The first of 100 planned restaurants in Canada will open next month and an expanded development agreement in Indonesia was recently executed, taking the market from 50 to 120 anticipated restaurants. Wingstop believes that it can achieve 7,000-plus global restaurants – over 3,000 of which are expected to be outside of the U.S.
