Burger King coming to Estonia
Global fast food chain Burger King may be coming to Estonia, after an announcement by shipping company Tallink Grupp that it has acquired development rights for the restaurants.
Tallink Grupp launched its first "floating" Burger King outlets on board its vessels in 2016, and now has exclusive rights to do so on dry land as well, in Latvia and Lithuania as well as Estonia, according to a company press release.
The three Baltic states are among the few remaining European countries where the iconic chain does not yet have restaurants, Tallink says.
The first restaurants in Estonia are to open during the winter, Tallink says, though the locations were not announced, and the licences are for 20-year terms. The expansion should create nearly 800 jobs across the three Baltic States, the company says.
"We have taken a number of steps to expand Tallink Grupp's activities onshore as well as at sea, and the acquisition of the Burger King franchise across the Baltics is another important step forward with our onshore expansion plans … we are certain that a well-known and renowned restaurant chain like Burger King is exactly what consumers are looking for in the fast food world in the Baltic states," said Paavo Nõgene, Tallink Grupp CEO.
"I am pleased that with this franchise acquisition, we can not only offer our customers the iconic tastes of Burger King, but are also contributing significantly to the economies of the Baltic states by creating hundreds of new jobs," he added.
Burger King is the second major international fast food chain to enter the Estonian market recently. Kentucky Fried Chicken is set to open a restaurant in the Ülemiste shopping center in October, operated by franchisee Apollo Group.
Founded in 1954 in Jacksonville, Florida, Burger King is the second-largest fast food hamburger chain in the world, operating over 17,000 locations in more than 100 countries and U.S. territories, nearly all owned by independent franchisees.
AS Tallink Grupp is listed both on the Tallinn and Helsinki stock exchanges and operates passenger and cargo services on the northern Baltic Sea. It owns 14 vessels and operates seven ferry routes under the brand names of Tallink and Silja Line, employing over 7,400 people in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Russia and Germany.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
