KFC and Sizzlers operator Collins Food Group is overseeing US Mexican giant Taco Bell’s third crack at the Australian market, with the launch of a concept in Queensland.
Taco Bell’s latest attempt at success in Australia will launch from a former Sizzler restaurant in Annerley, Brisbane, Collins, Taco Bell’s Australian licensee, told Inside FMCG in a statement.
“[We are] currently recruiting for staff for the new restaurant, further details will be announced closer to the restaurant opening.”
The move comes after the US fast food brand failed to gain traction in Australia in the 1980s, and again between 1997-2005, when it hard a store on Sydney’s George Street. The expansion of Taco Bell comes as Mexican gains popularity among local consumers, with brands like Guzman y Gomez, Mad Mex and Zambrero having had success in recent years.
It could also provide Collins’ with a use for its sizzler sites, after it declared the brand as a “non-core business” in Australia earlier this year. There are currently 16 Sizzler stores in Australia.
Taco Bell has established a dominating position in the American fast-food market since founding in 1954. It’s now owned by food giant Yum Brands, which owns a raft of KFC restaurants in Australia.
