Popeyes is back in Korea and optimistic after exit in 2020

Long queues in front of Popeyes Korea's Gangnam location in southern Seoul on Dec. 16, 2022 [POPEYES KOREA]

Popeyes is back in Korea after a two-year hiatus, the fried chicken chain returning with three locations since December 2022.

The franchisee is optimistic despite reentering a market that's a sea of red for fast food joints.

The Popeyes exit from Korea was a “strategic withdrawal for a fresh start,” according to Sally Lee, COO of Non Luxurious Company (NLC). NLC, a subsidiary of KRX-listed Silla, is the operator of the Popeyes brand in Korea.

Lee said NLC chose Popeyes for several reasons — but mostly for its brand value. Rather than growing a brand from scratch, it believed it is more efficient to use a brand that has already proven its value.

“One of the things I strongly believe is that there is no brand stronger than the one that the whole country knows,” said Lee. “A ‘hip’ brand is not a brand that is hot but that is familiar. It’s a huge asset that every Korean has tried it at least once.”

The current generational shift was also another factor.

“To people in their 30s and 40s, Popeyes is a brand that brings back nostalgic memories, while to the MZ generation, it's fresh and new,” Lee said. “Thus it can be appealing to all generational groups.”

During the two years when Popeyes was absent from Korea, the domestic market situation became worse, with fast-food chains like McDonalds Korea and Mom’s Touch Korea being put up for sale.

Popeyes is emphasizing the authentic Louisiana style and the fact that it brought the Cajun taste to Korea for the first time.

“Cajun has a strong seasoning in a large amount,” she continued. “It's kind of a local soul food. I want to present this unique and stimulating taste of America.”

“While Los Angeles or New York-style burgers are well known, southern style burgers are rather unfamiliar,” said Lee.

Price is also an important factor for the fast food market.

In the late 1980s, when cooked rice was the one and only staple food of Koreans, hamburgers could never be considered a meal.

Twenty years ago "people questioned why they would pay 6,000 won for a hamburger that won’t even keep full,” Lee recalled.

Among its competitors, Popeyes was once considered overpriced. But Lee says food must be assessed for cost-effectiveness.

“The price is indeed important, but we need a new concept of cost-effectiveness that provides the best quality at the same price and provides customers another type of value,” Lee said. “We are planning new experiments, like an unexpected collaboration with a wine company.”

Miami-based Popeyes first entered the Korean market in 1994 — latecomer into the domestic fast food market compared to Lotteria (1979), Burger King (1984) and McDonalds (1988). Backed up by its popular crispy Louisiana-style Cajun Fries, Popeyes opened as many as 200 branches by 2004 and once vied with the others popular brands as the country’s top 4 fast food chains.

The number started to dwindle due to rivals such as Mom’s Touch and KFC entering the market, and Popeyes eventually closed down its operations in Korea after failing to find a buyer in 2020.

Following the opening in Gangnam Station and in Guro Digital Station, Popeyes Korea opened a third location near Hwagok Station in western Seoul on Jan. 31. It plans to open more.

Long, impressive queues were spotted in front the first branch, in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, with hundreds of curious customers eagerly waiting to get a taste of the brand’s signature Cajun fries and biscuits.

The company declined to disclose sales numbers.

BY JEONG SAE-HEE, SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]