Menus, advertisements, restaurants… how Quick wants to become a fast food giant again

The fast food chain Quick has grown again after almost disappearing. The brand plans to double the number of restaurants by 2028.

Quick, back. Less than three years after being taken over by an American fund, the fast food brand, once doomed to disappear from French soil, is back to financial health and plans to double the number of restaurants by 2028.

Born in Belgium in 1971, the burger chain was founded in France in 1980 and was for a long time the only competitor of the American giant McDonald’s, before encountering difficulties in the 2010s and then being bought by the Bertrand group to become the Burger King expand network. in 2015. The brand grew from 400 locations in 2015 – including a hundred restaurants in Belgium and Luxembourg sold to a Belgian group – to 100 restaurants in 2021, at the time of the acquisition by the American fund HIG Capital, the current owner.

Quick now has 140 restaurants. After 18 openings in 2023, the fast food brand wants to accelerate its development and aims for 30 openings per year by 2028, in all areas and especially in the west and southeast of France, where the chain is less present.

“Quick was really scaled back, we had very few restaurants, but we are in the process of regaining a place compared to the big chains, in a fairly dynamic burger market that weighs ten billion euros,” explains CEO Frédéric Levacher.

“History with customers”

On the fast food podium, McDonald’s still takes first place with just over 1,500 restaurants in France, followed by Burger King (500 restaurants) and KFC (350 outlets). “With the new shareholder and the team I represent, we embarked on the adventure in the belief that Quick, because of its reputation and its history with customers, had the ability to grow again. We launched a recovery plan at the end of 2022,” said the manager.

In 2023, Quick achieved a turnover of 415 million euros in France, an increase of 20% compared to 2022 and almost 60% compared to the end of 2021. For a number of comparable restaurants, the increase is 10% over a year and 40% more than two years, according to Frédéric Levacher. If the increase in sales is largely explained by higher spending per buyer, especially linked to inflation, the manager assures that it is also related to a greater influx of customers.

Good health that fuels desire, according to the site L’Informé, which confirmed in December that Quick was for sale again. “Quick is doing very well and we can imagine it will generate interest, but I have no information to share. We have an additional shareholder, we are developing strongly, there are no indications that that could change,” said the manager.

Eric and Ramzy, Tony Parker…

For its growth, the brand, which is 90% franchised, relies on advertising, especially television, through partnerships with celebrities: Éric and Ramzy, chef Norbert Tarayre and most recently former basketball star Tony Parker. Marketing costs for Quick amount to approximately 25 million euros, or 5% of the sector’s marketing budget in France (500 million euros), according to Frédéric Levacher.

Another way to differentiate itself: Quick is the only major burger brand in France that serves exclusively halal meat in its restaurants (bacon is chicken bacon).

In a context of food inflation, fast food also aims to offer cheap options for less than five euros, in addition to ‘premium’ burgers for more than ten euros.

According to the ‘citizen index’ recently published by the Gira Conseil company, the French will consume 1.5 billion citizens in 2023, a figure higher than in 2021 (+16%) but lower than in 2019 (-3.5%). The average registered price is 12.02 euros, all points of sale together. In fast food it drops to 6.60 euros. Another study by the Strateg’eat company presented in mid-March showed that the burger was one of the top 3 favorite snacks of the French, next to pizza (number 1) and kebab (number 3).