The first Rostic’s restaurant, supposed to replace the KFC brand in Russia, opened its doors in Moscow on Tuesday, after the withdrawal of this famous American fast food chain in reaction to the offensive in Ukraine.
Certain decorative elements have been modified and the image of Colonel Sanders, the brand’s emblem, has disappeared. But the design of the logo and packaging, with red and white stripes, is reminiscent of the KFC style.
“The sign is changing but the restaurant must keep its authenticity,” explained to the Russian daily RBK, Konstantin Kotov, co-owner of the Russian company Smart Service, which in April bought the KFC restaurants from the American group Yum! Brands.
According to him, a hundred KFC restaurants are to be relaunched under the Rostic’s brand by the end of the summer. In total, the American chain had more than 1,100 establishments in Russia, the conversion of which will take place gradually.
Since the beginning of the Russian attack in Ukraine and the economic sanctions against Moscow, many large Western companies have left Russia, for ethical reasons or because of difficulties in carrying out their activities.
McDonald’s restaurants, symbols of the arrival of American capitalism in Russia at the end of the USSR, and Starbucks cafes also sold their local activities to Russian businessmen, but not the right to use the name of their brand.
Russian McDonald’s were thus replaced last June by “Vkousno i totchka” and “Stars Coffee”, supposed to replace Starbucks, opened in August. With a design and menus very close to their American predecessors.
For KFC, the transition is similar. Several dozen customers inaugurated the new Rostic’s opened in the center of Moscow on Tuesday afternoon.
“I don’t feel fear because of the departure of many brands (from Russia). We are in the 21st century, there are enough clothes, food and drinks for everyone,” says Valeria Varyguina, a 22-year-old engineer. .
The menu for the new restaurants is identical to that of KFC, with two exceptions: Twister and Boxmaster sandwiches, whose company Yum! Brands owns the patents, will be renamed Chef-roll and Rostmaster, according to new co-owner Konstantin Kotov.
“Everything else on the menu will keep the exact same names and price,” he said.
A chain of Rostic’s restaurants existed in Russia between 1993 and 2012, but its name was written in Cyrillic at the time. She had been bought out by Yum! Brands and all of its restaurants rebranded as KFC in 2012.
For many, the resurrection of Rostic’s, which was the first fast food chain to open in post-Soviet Russia, therefore refers to the first years after the fall of the USSR.
“It’s a childhood memory, they were there before and they came back,” says Yevgeny Lazarev, a 31-year-old computer scientist who came to eat in the new Rostic’s in Moscow on Tuesday.
25/04/2023 18:17:50 – Moscow (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
