Mexican-inspired fast food is about to tickle Asian palettes, with the first Taco Bell China restaurant scheduled to open this year.
Yum Brands! CEO Greg Creed, speaking at a consumer and retail conference in New York, says the first taco Bell China outlet will open in Shanghai.
US-headquartered Yum! Is in the process of separating its China business into an independent, publicly traded company this year. It has about 7000 KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in China and believes the spin-off will boost returns and increased asset value for shareholders of both companies post-split.
Yum! plans to franchise 96 per cent of its outlets by the end of next year, and believes that model will enable it to nearly treble the store network from the present 6900 stores to 20,000.
A subsidiary of Yum, Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. Founded in 1962 by Glen Bell, it has more than 6600 stores across mainland US with 175,000-plus employees.