Describing itself as “tacos in a world of burgers”, Taco Bell’s general manager for UK & Europe, Gino Casciani believes its differentiated proposition is one of the key drivers of its growth in this market.
The North American QSR brand, owned by Yum! is on the verge of opening its 100th site, having “massively accelerated” its growth over the past 18 months.
“It took us 10 years to build the first 50 (sites), about 18 months to build the next 50 and the next 50 will probably come in about 12 months,” he tells MCA. “It’s a really exciting time for the brand.”
While the location of its 100th opening it still to be confirmed – due to multiple site openings jostling for position – Casciani says it’s due to be within the next 10 days.
It has openings lined up in Spalding later this month, with other sites in the pipeline including Southend and Hornchurch in Essex.
In terms of its future pipeline, the 100% franchise business is likely to finish the year “an incremental 30% on top of that 100”, he explains.
“We see the opportunity for several hundred restaurants in the UK, as we grow the brand. We are only at the ground floor of growth.”
The UK expansion plan forms part of Taco Bell’s overall global strategy, with its International division “growing exponentially as well”.
“We probably added 25% to the total estate in the last two years. We are going to cross the 1,000-store mark internationally this year and we think there is massive runway for growth for us, up to 10,000 stores by the end of the decade.”
‘We can flex our format’
Casciani says there has been a “massive pull from fans” of the brand to open sites in the UK, with its flexible format enabling it to explore a variety of locations and site sizes that perhaps others in the QSR space wouldn’t.
Around 20% of its sites are currently drive-thrus, while it also has a big presence on the high street with its inline restaurants.
A trial of a digital-only store last year in Wembley has shown the brand that it can also operate from small units. The site in Wembley, which offered only kiosk and click and collect ordering, with no dining room, was 95 square metres.
“We are able to flex our operating platform to the types of units that we can find that work well for us, which I think is a big advantage.”
Far from slowing down its expansion during the pandemic, Taco Bell actually sped it up, and now views itself very much as a national brand, with sites across England, Scotland and Wales, including around 20 restaurants within the M25.
“In every crisis there is opportunity. That was very much the case with the global pandemic where initially we saw some level of softening in the property market and some brands that just didn’t make it.
“If anything, it’s (the pandemic) given us the confidence to accelerate even quicker.”
That said, Casciani concedes the property market is getting “increasingly competitive again”.
Performance of the brand
Casciani says that throughout the pandemic, including the current financial year, the business model has proved to be very resilient, which he puts down to its multichannel approach.
“We were able to pivot and be very agile off the back of the pandemic and really let our fans and consumers access the brand in which ever way they wanted. Whether that was through click and collect, home delivery or bricks and mortar,” he explains.
That’s not to say trading isn’t tough, but he is confident of the brand’s value proposition. He says Taco Bell has tried to double-down on key price points that provide value to its customers, enabling them to feed their family for £20-25, offering abundant individual meals at £5, but also entry level snacking items at £1 or £2.
He says the business did have to impose low single-digit increases in April this year, but it is still keen to maintain its value proposition as much as it can.
