McDonald's plans to accelerate opening of new restaurants in Russia

US fast food giant McDonald’s has announced plans to increase investment in Russia by 40 percent this year and accelerate the opening of new restaurants.

Marc Carena, McDonald’s managing director in Russia:

“Last year we opened 40 restaurants, in 2019 we plan to open 60.”

He added that Russia will be one of the first markets for the firm to introduce new servicing standards.

The fast food chain will start serving visitors at the tables, which means having customers place their orders, but rather than queuing up near the registers, taking a seat and having an employee serve them. Such an option is already available in some McDonald’s restaurants in Russia.

Carena added that meals in the company’s restaurants will soon be prepared only after customers order, and not in advance.

Marc Carena:

“Our goal is to gradually blur the line between fast-food businesses and classic restaurants.”

“We believe that this combination is unique, there is no such thing on the market today.”

The company also plans to increase the number of staff in Russia by ten percent this year.

The McDonald’s network in Russia brings together more than 680 quick-service restaurants, which are visited by more than 1.5 million customers every day. The total investment of the company in Russia amounted to more than 61 billion rubles ($930 million).