Yum Brands brings KFC to Myanmar

Yum! Brands and Singapore-listed company investment firm Yoma Strategic have paired up to bring the KFC brand to Myanmar. The first outlet is to be opened next year.Yoma Strategic is an investment holding company, engaged in real estate, agriculture, automotive dealership, and luxury tourism, with a focus on Myanmar.Micky Pant, CEO, KFC said: “The announcement of the first KFC coming to Myanmar reflects our ongoing strategy of global expansion in emerging markets.”Serge Pun, executive chairman of Yoma Strategic KFC said that bringing KFC to Myanmar is an important step to achieving Yoma Strategic’s goal in being a key player in the country’s food and beverage sector.“Myanmar offers significant macro potential for an international quick service franchise with a growing consumer class that is forecast to grow from 2.5 million today to 19 million in 2030, potentially tripling consumer spending by more than threefold. In a regional context, Myanmar should experience a strong growth trajectory,” said Pun.He explained that the consumer and retail sector is also key to Yoma Strategic’s strategy to capture the rapid increase in discretionary consumer spending in the country and KFC is the cornerstone of its business platform in this space.In a press statement the company added that Myanmar is one of the potentially sizable consumer markets to emerge among developing economies. With 50 million people and a growing middle class with disposable income, the country offers significant consumer opportunity for Yoma Strategic to grow KFC over the long term, it said.KFC has US$23 billion in global sales and more than 18,000 restaurants in 118 countries.