MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Iconic international pizza brand lands in Argentina

Sbarro plans to open 35 restaurants in Argentina by 2025

Despite the current economic mismanagement in Argentina and the additional consequences brought to it by sanitary restrictions amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the worldwide known Sbarro pizza chain is opening its first restaurant in Argentina this coming Wednesday, August 25.

The first restaurant will be in downtown Buenos Aires. The brand plans to open 35 stores by 2025.

Pizza Hut had tried in the past to sell that type of food with a US touch to Argentine consumers but it was a commercial flop, just like McDonald's attempt to brew its coffee as per US standards. But people and generations change and Buenos Aires' population is now made up a sizeable number of immigrants from Latin American countries, mainly Venezuelans, while many Argentines have already migrated elsewhere.

Behind the arrival of the brand into the country is Grupo DG, a leading player in local restaurant businesses. The company brings together a group of investors, most with a long history in the restaurant business. They own chains like Kentucky (pizza) and Dandy.

DG Group Director Rafael Pereira Aragón last week announced their plans to open 35 restaurants under the brand Sbarro under a franchising format. For Wednesday's opening on Buenos Aires' iconic Corrientes Avenue 45 people have been hired.

Another store is to open before the end of 2021, five more next year and eight more during 2023, while in 2024 the company plans to open 10 stores and another 10 during 2025.

“Gastronomy is one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. We are fully aware of the situation and the difficulties that the gastronomic sector is going through, which is slowly getting back on its feet,” highlighted Development Minister Matías Kulfas.

Sbarro's landing “is a reflection of the confidence of foreign companies to produce, generate work and settle in the country,” Kulfas pointed out.

”For 14 years no North American chain had come to settle in Argentina. This is the first company to return, and from the hand of an Argentine company, that is why it really is an important symbol. We exploited this brand in the United States, in the city of Houston and we brought it here,” Pereira Aragón explained.

In the region, Sbarro has stores in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Costa Rica and is present in 26 countries worldwide. It has more than 1000 franchises and plans to grow at the rate of 70 openings per year around the world.