Meat Industry INSIGHTS Newsletter

970713 McDonald's to Open in Ex-Soviet Georgia

July 12, 1997 -- American fast-food giant McDonald's Corp has signed an agreement to open several restaurants in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Jim Kantalupo, president of McDonald's International, said the deal had been signed with local company Coca-Cola Kavkasioni, a local bottler of Coca-Cola beverages.

Coca-Cola Kavkasioni will act as McDonald's International's partner in the agreement.

He said it would take from 12 to 18 months to get the restaurants open. The first would be in the capital Tbilisi. He put the amount of investment at several million dollars and said several hundred people would be employed.

Georgia has a rich centuries-old culinary tradition of spicy national meat, cheese, and vegetable dishes. But Kantalupo said he had met no resistance from Georgian officials on opening the restaurants, the first in the Caucasus region, known best in recent years for its myriad ethnic and civil conflicts.

"I have tried Georgian dishes and I think the Georgian people will like the Big Mac too, like they do in 103 countries," he said.

He did not exclude the introduction of menu items with a local twist.

"We have had instances in other countries where we have added a locally flavored dish. That's a possibility," he said.

Kantalupo said McDonald's saw Georgia as a base from which to extend later into neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia.

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