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Burger King is pulling out of Russia, and this was announced on Thursday, March 10. It was revealed that the Whopper burger joint is halting corporate support for its more than 800 franchised locations in the country.
With its decision, Burger King is the latest major fast-food giant to withdraw support for its businesses in the Russian land. Its parent company, Restaurant Brands International, said that it would not be issuing approvals for any investment or BK expansion.
In addition, RBI is also suspending operations of Burger King, marketing, and its supply chain. CNN Business noted that the restaurant company’s announcement comes after a number of American fast-food brands have also halted their businesses due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Then again, it was clarified that although RBI said it would pause all developments, this does not necessarily mean that all Burger King stores are closing in Russia. This is because not all of the brand’s restaurants there are owned by RBI but are operated by local master franchisees.
This means that the company does not have control over the franchised locations. The most that RBI could do is to cut support to these franchisees’ branches.
Moreover, RBI said that it remained committed to donating its profits from franchised earnings to help the Ukrainian refugees and other victims of the ongoing war. The firm also owns other major fast-food brands, including Popeyes, Tim Hortons, and Firehouse Subs, but these do not have branches in Russia.
“Burger King has no corporate restaurants in Russia and the business is fully franchised and managed by a local master franchisee,” Restaurant Brands International stated in a press release. “Burger King has suspended all of its corporate support for the Russian market, including operations, marketing, and supply chain in addition to refusing approvals for investment and expansion.”
Finally, Burger King’s parent company also announced previously that Burger King donated around $1 million to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as well as its franchisees in over 25 countries in Europe that are teaming up with local non-governmental organizations or NGOs to disseminate $2 million worth of free Whopper meal vouchers to all refugees of Ukraine.
