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2 2 • r e s t a u r a n t d e v e l o p m e n t + d e s i g n • M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 5 Peer to Peer Q&A; with Henry McGovern, Chairman AmRest Holdings BY DAVID FARKAS, Contributing Editor "I f you ate in one of our KFCs, you saw how much better it is than in the U.S.," boasts Henry McGovern, chairman of AmRest Holdings, who sat down for an interview with rd+d in the company's Wroclaw, Poland, headquarters in March. For proof, he cites newly designed open kitchens, cooks in chef's uniforms and separate order and pick-up stations al- ready in 50 of the 430 KFC units owned and operated by AmRest, Europe's larg- est publicly listed restaurant company (WSE: EAT). "Nowhere else in the world will you see this design," declares McGovern, who co-founded the 800-plus unit concern in 1993. In addition to KFC, AmRest fran- chises Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Burger King in Central Europe, Spain, France and Russia, as well as La Tagliatelle, an upscale casual-dining concept acquired from a Spanish company in 2011. A year later, AmRest purchased Shanghai-based Blue Frog Bar & Grill and Kabb Bistro Bar. It has since added to its 67-unit Starbucks stable, acquiring 19 more in Romania (14) and Bulgaria (5) in March. rd+d: Over the past several years, AmRest's development in Central Europe and else- where has really spiked. Where do things stand today? HM: We have the best pipeline in quite some time. There's lots of room left right here [in Poland], even with 400 restau- rants. Our 2020 goal, which is quite a stretch, is to get to 1,000 restaurants in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary — a division we call CEE. Of that, Poland will be half or more. So we'll open 25 to 30 units a year here. rd+d: Where are the new markets within Poland? HM: We are building everywhere in Poland. We are less than half penetrated, even in Warsaw where we've been for years. There is still a migration to Warsaw with some 40,000 to 60,000 people arriving each year. That equates to a couple of restaurants for us. rd+d: What are your staffng plans? HM: We need a lot of people. We grow by 500 to 700 managers a year. Most of them are already on the bench. I often say we are more of a training company than a restaurant company. We like people to grow up in our system. rd+d: What's been the effect, if any, of the enormous amounts of capital the EU still pours into Poland? HM: The Poles are still building infrastruc- ture, meaning lots of roads and highways, including transportation hubs. We love the hubs. Incidentally, we have a Starbucks drive-thru in Wroclaw, in test. This is the frst one in this part of the world. rd+d: KFC is your mainstay here. How is it positioned? HM: It's a very strong brand here, more between a Chick-fl-A and an international McDonald's. The food is freshly made in the store. We've invested so much into our sup- ply chain to have fresh chicken delivered to the restaurants, having regional suppliers. We spend a lot of time developing supplier capability and forming partnerships with farmer co-ops. We spend so much time on a supply chain basis it is quite frustrating not to communicate what the brand stands for. If you have fresh, let people know.