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American fast food giant Wendy’s has signed a deal to roll out 200 burger joints in Australia by the middle of the next decade.
The agreement with Flynn Restaurant Group, which took over all 260 Pizza Hut restaurants in Australia in June, came months after Wendy’s announced plans to bring its famous square meat patties Down Under.
Flynn also operates hundreds of Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Arby’s, Applebee’s and Panera venues in the United States as a franchisee.
Wendy’s said the major expansion plan would kick off “primarily after 2025”, with the goal of opening 200 spots across the country through 2034.
It said the response to a 2021 pop-up event in Sydney and the brand’s announcement of plans to launch showed “it is clear fans are ready for Wendy’s to arrive in Australia”.
The Wendy’s Company president, international, and chief development officer Abigail Pringle said Australia was a “strategic market for long-term growth”.
“Flynn Restaurant Group has incredible experience in the restaurant space, and we are thrilled to expand our relationship with them,” she said, in a statement,
“They have a strong leadership team, great culture, vast industry knowledge, success with our brand in the US, and we are confident that Flynn Restaurant Group is the right partner to unlock growth for Wendy’s in Australia.”
Flynn Restaurant Group CEO Ron Bellamy said the company looked forward to expanding and “redefining what Australians should expect” from fast food.
“We couldn’t be more excited about expanding our partnership with Wendy’s,” he said.
“It is a tremendous brand with significant untapped potential outside of the U.S. and we think it is an especially great fit for Australia, given the savvy nature of the Australian consumer.
It’s not the chain’s first attempt to compete with established fast food giants such as McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King or Hungry Jack’s in Australia.
Wendy’s opened its first Australian store in Melbourne in 1982 and had as many as 11 locations before collapsing three years later with $8 million in debt.
Questions also remain about how the chain will deal with the existing Wendy’s Milk Bar franchise, which has more than 120 milkshake and hot dog outlets across Australia and New Zealand.
Jack Cowin eventually rebranded his Burger King stores as Hungry Jack’s following a trademark dispute with an existing takeaway food shop in South Australia.
One Wendy’s Milk Bar franchisee told The Guardian “there can’t be two Wendy’s” when the burger giant announced its plans earlier this year.
