CKE Restaurants Inc. (Carpinteria, Calif.) has opened the first of 12 Hardees’ restaurants in Kazakhstan over the next five years. Americana Group S.A.K., the second largest licensee in the CKE system, will operate the two restaurants. There are 215 Hardee’s restaurants throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
“We have a long and successful history with the Americana Group and are confident that they will continue to use their expertise and passion for Hardee’s as they expand in new and existing markets,” says Andrew Puzder, ceo of CKE Restaurants Inc. “Kazakhstan is a market with tremendous growth potential and we wanted to take this opportunity to employ a ‘first-mover’ strategy in our segment. In this regard, we are happy to introduce real, American-style charbroiled burgers to the market.”
The Americana Group currently operates Hardee’s in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. CKE Restaurants’ strategic development plans include doubling its international presence to more than 700 restaurants within the next five years. The company operates 3182 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 20 countries under the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's banners.