Name: Why Taco Bell Failed In Dubai
Uploaded: 2019-04-14T02:32:10.000Z
Duration: 7 min 23 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The American Mexican fast food chain is one of America's top

And over the last decade it's added another 1300 stores.

While it had tremendous success at home Taco Bell has had a lot of trouble taking off abroad.

Taco Bell has over 400international locations which is well below that of its rivals.

And having a whole lot of trouble finding a following in one

the world's fastest growing cities, Dubai.

It has the highest concentration of restaurants in the world

and the population generally loves American brands.

But Taco Bell called it quits in Dubai after just four years

In 2008, Taco Bell was killing it in the United States.

Its profits were higher than ever and it was Yum Brands

So its parent company Yum Brands decided to test out the Mexican food chain in Dubai.

In November of 2008, Taco Bell opened its first Middle East location in the Dubai Mall.

Keep in mind, in Dubai shopping malls are a major part of the Emirati culture.

With temperatures hitting 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the

summer, it's not unusual for Emirati to spend hours trolling the malls.

Malls in Dubai have indoor ski slopes, shark tanks and Olympic sized ice rinks.

The Dubai Mall spans over 5.9 million square feet with over

1300 stores and more than 200 food and beverage options for locals and tourists.

The mall alone contributed 5 percent of Dubai's GDP in 2015.

At the time Taco Bell entered the city the Dubai Mall was

one of the largest shopping malls in the world.

According to the franchise owner Taco Bell's initial launch

showed promising results for the company.

The owner said that the initial success was behind its

reason to start expanding to other locations in the UAE in 2009.

Taco Bell in Dubai reportedly adjusted its menu to be halal

certified so it can adhere to Islamic dietary laws.

By 2012 talk about how expanded its footprint to two other

of Dubai's mega malls but Taco Bell's franchise owner

Americana group made the call to exit Dubai in early 2012.

Taco Bell did well in the Dubai Mall. They had one location in the Dubai Mall that

was pretty well and it was a pretty amazing location.

didn't quite do so well and there are multiple reasons for that.

I think the quality isn't quite what the people expected.

And I think the actual owners wanted more than just

one successful site they wanted multiple.

I mean they just struggled to deliver that.

During its time in Dubai, Taco Bell's parent company Yum

Brands was the number one fast food company in the UAE.

And KFC and Pizza Hut top the UAE brand ranking.

In Dubai, there were 31 KFC stores and 20 pizza stores.

So why is it that Taco Bell couldn't match the same success

First, it's partly to do with local tastebuds.

Emirati don't have much of an appetite for Mexican food.

During Taco Bell's time in Dubai, out of all of the money

the fast food industry made in the UAE, the Latin-American

inspired food category came in dead last.

On average latin foods accounted for just 0.14 percent of

all fast food sales in the UAE each year between 2009 and 2013.

Meanwhile the burger category accounted for nearly 30

Secondly, Taco Bell also lack the international brand

KFC and Pizza Hut already had stores around the world long

before Taco Bell's first attempt to expand abroad.

KFC launched internationally in 1953 in Canada and by 1971

While pizza has been a global brand since 1968 and

specifically in the UAE since 1979 but Taco Bell its first

ever expansion outside of the U.S. began in 1979.

Its global expansion has been slow going and not always successful.

It's tried and failed in several countries from Singapore to Mexico.

As of 2019, Taco Bell has over 400 international stores

which pales by comparison with its sister companies.

KFC has nearly 18000 stores and Pizza Hut has nearly 9000.

According the Gulf Business back in 2012. The former Yum

Brands CEO said this about Taco Bell's international troubles.

What we do with Pizza Hut and KFC is to bring a unique image

to a known quantity. Whereas with Taco Bell you have a

unique brand and an unfamiliar food category. So it's a

little bit harder to establish Taco Bell than KFC or Pizza Hut.

Another possible factor playing against Taco Bell in Dubai,

Even though Latin American foods ranked last in the UAE fast

food sales Mexican-American sit down chain Chili's has been

It's added at least two stores every year since entering the country.

In fact full service restaurants like Chili's performed

better than fast food outlets during the same time Taco Bell was in Dubai.

Full service restaurants had a 30 percent hold over the total market.

So why did full service restaurants perform better than fast food chains like Taco Bell?

Emirati consumers consider going out not merely as a

convenience but as a social event with family and friends.

I think Chili's has quite a wide menu they have more than just Mexican.

family in the malls and at a different price point, where its much more about quantity

Local chain Taqado is another popular Mexican food option in Dubai.

They entered the market the year after Taco Bell left and it

now has 13 locations across Dubai offering everything from

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Why Taco Bell Failed In Dubai

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