The Hamburger War in Puerto Rico

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar. 12, 2012 - Puerto Rico has been recognized as the Retail Mecca of the Caribbean. Today we can also say that Puerto Rico is the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) Mecca not only in the Caribbean but Latin America. The QSR industry is one of the most competitive and penetrated retail activity in Puerto Rico. We have estimated that the burger industry in Puerto Rico represented by Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's generate annual sales in excess of $650,000,000 that is one burger restaurant for every 10,500 people!!!

Despite of the economic downsize and challenging margins, the "three amigos" continue expansion and two of them, Burger King and McDonald's, seem to be making some strategic adjustments on the run.

But it seems that the Burger war in Puerto Rico is not over yet since a fourth player announced the entrance to the Puerto Rico's Burger War Arena, that is Carl's Jr.

For those of you who don't know about Carl's Jr., it was established in 1941 as a Hot Dog stand in Los Angeles, California. In 1945 the first full service restaurant came up, Carl's Drive-In Barbeque, and in 1946 hamburgers were added to the menu for the first time. Since then Carl's Jr. has evolved as an important player in the Burger Industry primarily on the Western part of the USA and now expanding into Central and South America and the Caribbean.

International Meal Company (IMC), a giant multi-brand casual and QSR operator in Latin America, is the one who has the rights to operate Carl's Jr. in Latin America and the Caribbean. CKE Restaurants, Inc., Carl's Jr. brand owner, announced an agreement with IMC for a five-year development that covers Colombia, Dominican Republic, Panama and Puerto Rico. The plan is to open approximately 50 Carl's Jr. restaurants in five years.

Visit http://www.csscaribbean.com to see charts on the Burger Market Penetration in Puerto Rico.

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Caribbean Strategic Solutions is a Corporate Real Estate Agency dedicated to provide Strategic Real Estate Services to national and international retail companies. For more information visit http://www.csscaribbean.com or call Pedro Santos 787-600-6227.

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/11821061/1