The chicken chain’s international business now earns more than $1 billion in systemwide sales.
Popeyes is finding an unrelenting hunger for chicken around the world.
Since RBI acquired the brand in March 2017, it has grown from over 500 international restaurants generating roughly $300 million in annual system sales to nearly 1,300 restaurants and over $1 billion in systemwide sales. Same-store sales rose 19.4 percent in the second quarter.
In 2019, Popeyes entered Spain with the help of a Burger King operator. Now there are almost 140 restaurants in the market, with a clear runway for more development. In the U.K. and India, there are 50 stores each—achieved in less than three years. Popeyes sees more growth in those trade areas, as well as France, which has 16 units in about a year. The chain also recently debuted in New Zealand, and that restaurant is projected to earn $6 million in annual sales. That’s one of the strongest country debuts the brand has ever experienced.
That successful opening was followed by Costa Rica in July, a restaurant that saw nearly 1,800 transactions on the first day.
“While Popeyes is having a lot of early success in many markets around the world, we know it can do so much more,” Kobza said during RBI’s Q2 earnings call.
Popeyes ended the quarter with 1,298 international stores, a big jump from 975 in Q2 2023. Kobza said the chain’s international business will be a big driver in RBI reaching a projected 4 percent unit growth in 2024 and acceleration in the future.
“We’ve got some big markets that are starting to get to relevant scale,” the CEO said. “Places that I mentioned like Spain, the U.K., India, those are starting to ramp up their development pace, but we’re opening some new markets as well. And I would say the results of those new markets have been really encouraging. So all that are kind of the projects that we’re working on for 2025.”
A big push is coming in China. In July, RBI announced it acquired Popeyes China for $15 million. Popeyes entered China in August 2023 and now has 14 restaurants in Shanghai. RBI expects the pace of growth to increase via investments in local teams and restaurant development.
The objective is to get the business up and running and then hand it off to a trusted partner.
“So in Popeyes, we were really encouraged by how the brand was received initially,” Kobza said. “And I would say the shift is just for us to take it on and make sure it has the capital and the support it needs to realize its full potential. So I’d say not a big like brand positioning or strategy shift there. I think we’ll just be working on building up the team and then building up the development pipeline to make sure that we start growing that at the pace that we think makes sense. So that’s the game plan there.”
In the U.S., Popeyes saw a 0.6 percent rise in same-store sales. Comps were driven by expansion of the wings platform, particularly boneless wings and value-driven big-box promotions. These helped Popeyes gain overall QSR share growth year-over-year. Kobza said the wings have been crucial in catering to different dining occasions. While the wings haven’t yet sparked a significant increase in attracting new customers, the product has gained strong traction among existing guests.
Digital sales grew 32 percent in Q2 and mix increased to over 27 percent. Additionally, around 50 kitchens have been converted under the “Easy to Run” model. This simplified kitchen setup, along with automated ordering, is enhancing order accuracy, reducing driver wait times, and boosting satisfaction among both team members and guests. Popeyes wants to reach over 4,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada by 2028 and push U.S. franchisee profitability closer to the $300,000 mark.
The chicken chain ended Q2 with 3,086 U.S. stores.
Source: QSR Web
