Yum! Restaurants International (YRI), based in Dallas, Texas, is a powerful global growth engine for Yum! Brands, with nearly 14,000 restaurants outside the U.S. and China Division in over 110 countries (Q2 2010).
One of our four key business strategies is to drive profitable international growth. YRI's demonstrated track record of growth and expansion of the KFC and Pizza Hut brands around the world has been a large part of our success. YRI is a diverse, high-return business, with 898 new restaurant openings across six continents in 2009, marking YRI's ninth year of opening more than 700 new restaurants outside of the U.S. and China.
We have strong local teams around the world, operate in more than 110 countries and territories with established supply chains and have more than 700 international franchisees. Our franchise and joint-venture partners are driving growth by opening approximately 90 percent of our new international restaurants.
Our international business is one of the key factors that make us truly unique in the restaurant industry. For example, our KFC business in France enjoys the highest unit volumes of any KFC business in the world. For a fifth year, Pizza Hut has been ranked as the #1 most trusted food-service brand in India in a consumer survey in The Economic Times. In Russia, Yum! partnered with Rostik's, the country's number one fast food chicken chain, and has converted over 100 into Rostik's/KFC co-branded restaurants. Yum! is also at the beginning of taking Taco Bell global and plans to make a serious investment behind launching Taco Bell internationally.
We are very excited by the potential for future growth. Our two big brands, KFC and Pizza Hut, still have enormous unit growth opportunities as well as scope for unit volume gains through new layers like breakfast, beverages and additional proteins. We're ready to take Taco Bell global and to build our new pizza delivery brand, Pizza Hut Delivery (PHD). All in all, a world of opportunity everywhere we look.
Graham D. Allan, CEO
Yum! Restaurants International
Pizza Hut "Most Trusted Food Service Brand"