$15 million will be invested in opening 30 branches of the Mexican fast food chain.
Penthouse Building and Investment, owned by local Pizza Hut franchisee Shlomo Dahokey, is negotiating with Pepsico International for the Taco Bell franchise in Israel. Penthouse acquired the Pizza Hut franchise from Clal Retail Chains early this year.
Pepsico owns fast food chains Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC (Ketucky Fried Chicken). At present, Taco Bell operates solely in the US and Canada, but in recent months the corporation has begun establishing a marketing infrastructure to transfer franchise rights outside the US. Taco Bell has 7,000 outlets in the US, and has an annual turnover of $3.4 billion.
Pizza Hut Israel intends to establish 30 Taco Bell Mexican fast food restaurants, after the license is approved by Pepsico. $500,000 will be invested in each restaurant.
The Taco Bell concept is counter-top sales at very low prices, down to $0.99 a meal. Restaurants cover a relatively small area, of some 50 sq.m. The menu is based on chopped meat, cooked beans and salads, served either wrapped in a tortilla pancake or inside a corn meal taco shell.