Taco Bell Celebrates 100th Restaurant In Spain, Surpassing International Expansion Goals

Fast food restaurant Taco Bell is celebrating a milestone in 2022 and outlining its continued plans for international growth.

What Happened: Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands Inc (NYSE: YUM), is opening its 100th restaurant in Spain.

“Our international franchise partners and team members in Taco Bell restaurants around the world fuel the fire of our brand and are a huge testament to what we are building together,” Taco Bell International President Julie Felss Masino said.

Future Taco Bell international locations will open in India, Australia and the United Kingdom, three markets the company is focusing on for growth.

Related Link: Taco Bell Celebrates 10th Anniversary Of Live Mas With Super Bowl LVI Commercial 

Why It’s Important: Taco Bell opened its first international location in 1973. All international stores are franchise-owned.

Over the last two years, Taco Bell has grown its store count by more than 25%. The company's plans call for Taco Bell to have more than 1,000 international restaurants.

“Our international expansion to 1,000 restaurants outside the U.S. allows us a bigger footprint to create more fans around the world,” Felss Masino said.

Taco Bell’s digital sales are contributing to the growth of international business, according to the company. Taco Bell has digital sales of over 50% for international locations, the highest of the Yum Brands portfolio (Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell).

The company credited a global brand campaign and “Taco Moon” ad campaign with being key to international growth. All Taco Bell fans got a free taco as part of the campaign in October 2021, which helped the company post its highest sales week in international history.

Taco Bell opened 195 gross new stores in the fourth quarter and 433 for the full year throughout 27 countries. At the end of fiscal 2021, Taco Bell had 7,791 restaurants open, up 5% from the previous year.

Same-store sales at Taco Bell locations were up 5% in the fourth quarter and up 8% for fiscal 2021. Franchise and property revenue was up 12% to $742 million for fiscal 2021.

Courtesy photo.