Franchise news

Dr Istán Kiss, general secretary of the Hungarian Franchise Association retires. He has lead the organisation since its foundation in 1991. His successor is dr. Katalin Mandel, owner and director of Dakexpo.

Café boom expected in Hungary? Several European cafe chains regard Hungary as suitable ground for expansion. Kaldi, Chiaroscuro, C House, Café & Té are all looking for franchise partners. .The British Costa Café and Coffee Republic are also interested in this market. Café Jubilee will open their first unit in Hungary soon.

CC expanding. The new owners of Coffeeshop Company seem to have serious plans for achieving a dominant position in the Hungarian market of fast cafes. They have opened two new units in Budapest recently. However, their most important project is the cafe opened on the ground floor of Corvinus University.

KFC to give it a try. Kentucky Fried Chicken will open a new restaurant soon in Moszva tér. This unit had already belonged to several fast food franchise chains, but never became successful.

Also about the AmRest group: first Starbucks cafe opened in Prague. Following their debut in the Czech Republic, Romania and Russia, they are now turning their attention to Hungary and Poland. AmRest is the largest independent restaurant company in the Middle and Eastern European region, with 252 KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, freshpoint and Rodeo Drive units.

Master franchise up for sale. Sr Patata opened its first reference unit in Debrecen last year. Their operation is based on potato and a special fat-free technology. Their first restaurant and the master franchise is up for sale, as the franchisee is unable to continue operation, owing to family reasons.

Restructuring for McDonald’s. As their own units are believed to be less profitable than those operated by franchise partners, some of these are to be handed over to franchisees by McDonald’s. The number of own units is to be reduced by 1,500 in the UK and Canada, while expansion is to continue in China and Russia.