News on QSR, Restaurant and Food Service Trends from Asia

When Burger King decided to enter India, the American hamburger chain did something that it has never done before. It gave the local master franchise full control over the menu.

Flavored french fries retailer Potato Corner is planning to expand its operations by opening 60 new stores in the Phillipines and setting up 10 new stores in Indonesia this year.

McDonald's French Fry supplier in Beijing - Beijing Simplot Food Processing Co. Ltd - has been fined a record 3.9 million yuan (about 655,000 USD) for discharging waste water that exceeded the maximum allowed COD value.

Last month, McDonald's India has cut the amount of calories and salt on its Indian menu as it fights to hold on to customers in a rapidly growing developing market where newer, healthier fast-food options are just starting to catch on.

It was bound to happen. This isn't out of the blue. It makes perfectly good sense. In South Korea, McDonald's is rolling out honey butter french fries.

KFC opened the doors to its first restaurant in Georgia on December 25th, 2014 in the capitol city of Tbilisi.

Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan has stopped selling fries, as industrial disputes that have crimped potato exports from the US took another bite out of the country's fast food market.

McCain Foods India is expanding its distribution network as well as improving availability of its products throughout the country.

McDonald's Japan is to only sell small portions of fries starting December 17, in response to the french fry shortage in the country.

Restaurants in Japan are rushing to secure supplies of french fries after shipment delays from the US, with one chain readying to airlift 200 tons of fries.

Global Foodservice Sales Reach US$2.6 Trillion in 2013

McDonald’s today announced that it will open restaurants in Kazakhstan in 2015, in conjunction with a local developmental licensee, Kairat Boranbayev.

According to the Japanese food website entabe.jp McDonald's Japan will offer this fall for a limited time a purple sweet potato milkshake.

India has long had a reputation as being unfriendly to foreign businesses, but when it comes to fast food, international chains are being warmly welcomed by a young, upwardly mobile population.

India Times reports that Pizza Hut is to introduce a potato topping at an outlet in the city Vadodara after extensive market research.

It may surprise many people to learn that China has been the world's largest producer of potatoes since 1993. But it should not be entirely unexpected. The Chinese diet has changed drastically since the economic reforms of the 1980's.

McDonald's Japan offers free french fries cupholders.

Filippino-owned flavored French fries retailer Potato Corner is planning to expand in the US from the current 13 to as many as 1,000 stores in the next five to seven years.