Mexican restaurant chain Taco Bell opens first outlet in Sri Lanka

By Zahara Zuhair

Taco Bell, the world’s largest Mexican inspired quick service restaurant (QSR) chain opened its first restaurant in Horton Place, Colombo – 7 yesterday. 

It is brought to Sri Lanka by Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, who isalso the franchise owners of Pizza Hut and Delifrance in Sri Lanka. 

With this they expect to fill the void for quality Mexican inspired food in the country as Sri Lanka is looking at expanding its cuisine availability especially to cater to different tourist needs.

                                                                                                                             Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, Managing Director                                                                       Amar Raj Singh 

“Sri Lanka is an important market for Taco Bell because we are expanding in the region. We see Colombo as a hot destination for culinary holidays. Mexican cuisine has been absent here and we saw the potential to bring the real thing to Sri Lanka,” Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, Managing Director Amar Raj Singh told Mirror Business. 

He said that as the Sri Lankan public is open to trying new foods, Taco Bell would like to leverage on this and reward them with their inspired Taco Bell experience. 
“Sri Lankan consumers are evolving in terms of their food preferences and eating out. They are more receptive towards food experimentation. There is also a trend for fresh foods. Value for money will always remain relevant for the QSR segment. We believe the food will appeal to locals and growing number of tourists as well,” he said.

However, they did not disclose the exact amount of investment infused into the project, noting that the amount would increase as they have plans to invest further. 

“This first Taco bell in the city will be our role model for local expansion as and when we do plan it,” he said. 

“We spent a lot of money on training people. Five people went to India for training. We had been working on this for the last 10 months. So after opening the second and third outlets we will have accurate figures,” he said.

The restaurant is built on a 2100 square feet land and they said that they will be adding a drive-thru in the near future. 

He added that they are highly excited and optimistic about the first Taco Bell restaurant in Colombo and want to currently focus on ensuring that there is synchronicity between their customers and their offering. 

The unique features of the restaurant as noted were; the diners can expect a re-imagined fast food experience replete with quick service, stylish and interactive interiors and latest music sounds.

Taco Bell Corp, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc. is the world’s leading Mexican inspired QSR brand. It provides made-to-order and customizable tacos, burritos and other specialists. Yum! is an American fast food company that operates the brands Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell.

It was noted that there are currently more than 300 Taco Bell restaurants (including military bases) across 24 markets outside of the United States. Their goal is to expand the brand’s international presence to 1,000 restaurants  by 2022. 

The company and its franchises operate more than 7,000 restaurants, generating more than US $ 9 billion in sales. By 2022, the brand plans to become a US $ 15 billion company in global system sales with 9,000 restaurants globally.