First McDonald’s restaurant opens in Vietnam

McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, inaugurated its first franchise in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 on February 7.
McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, inaugurated its first franchise in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 on February 7.

McDonald’s Vietnam Managing Director Nguyen Huy Thinh said that the restaurant will officially serve customers at 10am on February 8.

Together with McDonald’s most famous offerings such as the Big Mac, the 350-seat restaurant will provide customers with some new dishes which are created based on the tastes of Vietnamese people.

All beef will be imported from Australia, while pork and potato will be bought from the US.

McDonald’s serves nearly 68 million people in 119 countries daily.

While the fast-food giant has an immense presence in greater Asia, McDonald’s is late to the market in Vietnam, where a bevy of fast food operations are already based. Trailblazer KFC, another US fast food brand, has also rapidly expanded in Vietnam. The first KFC restaurant was established in Ho Chi Minh City in 1997 and in June 2011 the franchise marked its 100th restaurant in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Burger King has 29 restaurants in the country.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that there were just over 100 foreign franchises registered in Vietnam as of December 2013.-VNA

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