With the dynamic culinary landscape and a resurgence in travel, QSRP’s appetite for innovation continues to grow, further refining its successful growth strategy.
QSRP is a platform of quick-service restaurants with a variety of food concepts, with a mission to deliver fast, sustainable, affordable and authentic dining experiences.
Established in 2014, the company has thrived and is now in a stronger position to pursue further growth opportunities within the ever-evolving culinary industry, particularly in the airport food & beverage segment.
Beginning with the master franchise acquisition of Burger King in Italy, the company has expanded its portfolio to include over 1,200 restaurants across different brands, including Quick, Nordsee and O’Tacos.
QSRP made significant strides in 2016 by acquiring the master franchise rights for Burger King in Belgium and Luxembourg. The company also secured a perpetual licence for Quick, a popular burger chain in Belgium and Luxembourg, during the same year. By 2018, QSRP further enhanced its portfolio with the acquisition of leading seafood chain in Germany and Austria, Nordsee, as well as international brand O’Tacos.
Recently, the company has introduced its O’Tacos brand to Morocco and Canada through collaborations with local master franchisees.
As QSRP celebrates its tenth anniversary, it has highlighted another notable success with an agreement signed in July with Dunkin’s master franchise in France, marking its first foray into the coffee and bakery segment.
In this exclusive interview with The Moodie Davitt Report, QSRP Group Chief Commercial Officer Ezio Balarini reflects on the company’s remarkable journey and key milestones driving their expansion, and outlines their ambitious plans for future growth, particularly in travel retail.
QSRP is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. What have been its most notable achievements so far, and how has the company overcome any challenges, especially the ones brought about by the pandemic?
Over the past years there has been an impressive acceleration in the organic growth of our portfolio brands. We expanded the presence of Burger King in Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg, reinforced Quick in BeLux, developed O’Tacos internationally and revitalised Nordsee.
The pandemic posed significant challenges to the whole sector, but it also highlighted the resilience and agility of our brands. Despite the disruption, we maintained operations through delivery services, ensuring safety of the crew and continuous service for our customers. Digital services development and digital innovation play a big role. Today, on average, our brands record digital transactions of 61% over total transactions, with peaks of 79% for some.
Digital innovation played a role also in difficult times. The pandemic accelerated our digital transformation: we developed an online table reservations system to allow for safe space occupancy, and we were the first in the F&B restaurants industry to implement such a system. This innovation was largely recognised for its uniqueness, and after the pandemic it remained useful to further develop our digital services.
We were also among the first to introduce digital kiosks and click-and-collect features in our stores. The disruption brought by the pandemic also motivated our brands to innovate their product offering and store designs, leading to renovations that positioned us for future growth.
Since 2022, inflation has been another challenge to manage, but we have been able to control the costs of our goods and mitigate the impact of inflationary pressures on our customer prices.
What sets QSRP apart from other food & beverage companies?
QSRP differentiates itself from others with many factors. We are unique in the innovation of our products and have been accelerating our digital transformation, leveraging AI to enhance our marketing processes and operations.
We are guided by a ‘good growth’ model for a sustainable and profitable growth that reaches circa 100 openings per year. Our Five-Year Business Plan prioritises sustained organic growth within our current portfolio, while maintaining a strong ambition for strategic expansion.
This includes pursuing complementary acquisitions, entering new markets and further strengthening our existing operations. Our approach is driven by a clear vision for growth and diversification, ensuring long-term success for QSRP.
Our brands can rely on strong central services, including our group-wide supply chain function and robust IT infrastructure and digital development. Our people are another key asset and differentiator; we are united by strong values and ambitions.
Tell us about QSRP’s brands and footprint in Europe. What are the key markets and how are you planning to extend your geographic footprint?
The key markets in which we currently operate are Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and The Netherlands.
Our ambition is to expand within the European market through diversified and complementary offerings. Our most recent diversification has been with Dunkin’ as we entered the extended coffee and bakery segment in France.
Geographically, O’Tacos, besides its growth in France, has been expanding internationally, landing in Morocco and soon Canada and Saudi Arabia. We have widely developed O’Tacos, almost doubling the number of restaurants in five years also beyond Europe.
What role does travel retail play in driving your international expansion?
Travel retail is a very important channel that we are now expanding into, after consolidating the development of our brands and reaching a relevant market positioning.
We have been adapting our formula, leveraging on the brand recognition and visibility, and enhancing the speed of service as a key success factor in travel retail.
What are your travel retail ambitions and plans for the future?
We aim to expand into international hubs that are a good fit for our brands, including airports and railway stations.
The ambition in travel retail is to develop mainly O’Tacos and Nordsee, besides consolidating the presence and performances of Quick and Burger King, which already feature in several travel retail locations.
The travel market is for sure of big interest for QSRP, not only for our traditional portfolio but also for the newcomers like the Dunkin’ brand.
An O’Tacos in franchising will open soon at King Khalid International Airport and we will approach the travel market, directly or through partnership.
Dunkin’, Burger King and Quick experiences in airport locations are very positive and the brands fit perfectly the need of quality and speed of service that is fundamental in this environment. Airports are an area of great interest.
What F&B brands are you are planning to highlight in the travel retail market?
Our primary focus will be O’Tacos, which has proven to be successful also beyond Europe: we opened a store in Marrakech and Casablanca will follow. The brand will soon open in Canada and we are close to opening in Saudi Arabia.
O’Tacos offers a unique fusion of flavours from the French cuisine, such as its signature sauce fromagère; and Arabian-inspired ingredients, like the Algérienne or curry sauces. Serving halal food makes O’Tacos an inclusive option for travellers.
O’Tacos’ efficient service model, with its customisable and easy-to-carry meals, aligns perfectly with the needs of travellers who are often looking for fast yet satisfying food options.
Our other focus will be on Nordsee, which serves a unique offering for the retail segment – delicious and sustainable seafood snacks and meals.
How do you tailor your offerings to accommodate the diverse cultural tastes and preferences across various markets?
Our presence in Europe aligns closely with local consumer preferences. Across all our brands, we offer specialities made with locally sourced ingredients. Our quick restaurants offer burgers that capture the essence of traditional ‘belgitude’.
Another example is the use of local ingredients in Burger King in Italy, like the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in the ‘Italian King’ offer. At O’Tacos, customers can enjoy our unique sauce fromagère. While Nordsee never falls short of offering traditional fried-fish baguettes.
A growing preference we see across Europe is towards plant-based meals. In response to this trend, all our brands have been offering multiple plant-based products for a few years now, suitable for flexitarians.
Our brands have also adapted and keep evolving in response to the demographic evolution in the countries we are present in, making us ready to cater to diverse global demographics as we enter the travel retail channel.
How does QSRP leverage its industry knowledge, efficient operations and agile way of working to stay ahead in the competitive food & beverage market?
We have the agility of a start-up and the organisation of a big corp. This combination allows us to stay ahead and to accelerate innovation processes and growth.
We can safely rely on our strong operations, characterised by robust food safety and control procedures in all our stores. Our operational excellence is also driven by the supply chain synergies we have established through a central procurement and logistics team that guarantees an efficient and reliable supply of key products.
QSRP has established a strong link between the brands and between company-owned and franchise restaurants. We leverage our capabilities to accelerate development through multi-site franchisees, geographical zoning and a committed development plan. We are strong of a rich franchising culture founded on solid pillars: training, quality management, profitability, control and food safety, brand standards, local store marketing and operations, and construction expertise.
Today, we have a community made of more than 350 franchisees that are also real business partners; they help us in developing our business and foster our reciprocal growth.
Having a good and profitable partner relationship with franchisees is very important for us. It’s one of the pillars of our company.
Can you elaborate on your digital acceleration initiatives?
Our digital acceleration is pervasive of all areas of the business. Emerging technologies are taking on the role of service enablers and facilitators, simplifying complex processes and creating a more efficient environment. For instance, we are leveraging on AI to enhance our marketing activities, forecasting sales in the short and long term, and adapting our operations accordingly to increase efficiency.
We have a digital sales penetration of over 60%, with some brands exceeding 70%. Our loyalty sales have been on the rise year after year since 2018. Kiosks are our leading channel, and we are working to integrate AI to improve and personalise the customer experience through tailored recommendations and targeted communications.
What are QSRP’s key sustainability initiatives and how is the company working to minimise its carbon footprint?
QSRP’s sustainability journey is founded on a clear ESG strategy, governance and plan. Our ESG Plan is built on four pillars: conservation of our planet; good food for all; engagement of our suppliers; and equality, diversity and inclusion for our people.
In recent years, we focused on cultivating diversity and investing in the development of our people. In 2023, the representation of women in managerial roles increased to 45%, and we count over 100 nationalities working together in QSRP.
We conducted a carbon footprint analysis to deepen our understanding in this area and lay the groundwork for developing emission-reduction strategies in the coming years.
We have already implemented energy-efficiency solutions in our stores. We have eliminated almost all single-use plastic items used by customers (now only 2% is in plastic). We are equally committed to minimising food waste in our kitchens, striving to keep it at an absolute minimum.
Our primary focus has been on preparing for the corporate sustainability reporting directive. We have conducted our double materiality analysis, engaging with our external stakeholders, to reassess our strategic priorities.
Our ambition is to act as forerunner in our industry with our good growth-approach and inspire and engage our stakeholders on the road to better. 
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