By Alexandre Moelle
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Hungry for Big Macs since McDonald’s Corp closed its Russian restaurants in March, Russians will be treated to an alternative from the burger chain’s successor – the ‘Big Hit’ – from next year.
Russian fast food chain Vkusno & tochka, or “Tasty & that’s it”, said on Monday that the Big Hit, with a new signature sauce, will be available from February and a product similar to McDonald’s Happy Meal will make its return as “Children’s Combo”.
McDonald’s closed its Russian restaurants shortly after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February, eventually selling to a local licensee, Alexander Govor, who unveiled the new brand in June.
Vkusno & tochka CEO Oleg Paroev said the company has overcome supply chain issues and increased its share in a market traditionally dominated by foreign chains.
There are restrictions on the colors and products that Vkusno & tochka can use. He can no longer serve Big Macs, nor use McDonald’s-style sauce, Paroev explained.
“(The Big Hit) has its own sauce and a slightly different composition, a different arrangement of ingredients, but in terms of quality and taste, it’s very good,” Paroev said.
“We hope that Russian consumers will appreciate the Big Hit and that it will become as much a symbol of Vkusno & tochka as the Big Mac is a symbol of McDonald’s.
GOVERNOR ACQUISITIONS
Since acquiring Russian restaurants McDonald’s, Govor has taken over the Russian operations of Finnish packaging company Huhtamaki and a logistics business, which will be renamed “Logistics & that’s it”.
On Monday, he said Vkusno & tochka might try to find a partner to produce children’s toys for the Kids’ Combo, which currently includes a free book, but his appetite for mergers and acquisitions was satisfied for now.
Vkusno & tochka and meat producer Miratorg said on Monday they had agreed to build a factory in 2023 to supply the chain with french fries and potato wedges. Some Vkusno & tochka restaurants had to remove fries from the menu this year due to a shortage of potatoes.
“We were just forced to do this,” Govor said. “We were looking for partners because some of our suppliers, especially potatoes, have doubled their prices from February to today.”
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Alison Williams and Josie Kao)
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