Quickservice: Nordsee Goes East

 
2009 is a year of considerable international expansion for Germany's QSR brand Nordsee. By the end of the year, the company plans to have extended its network of international stores to 20 - besides over 400 at home and in Austria. Europe's leading foodservice provider of fish and seafood will then be present in nine (!) countries. Strategic objective for 2012: 50 units abroad. A survey of the chances and challenges in the new markets.
 
Nordsee is not only heading eastwards. Initial store openings are also planned for Dubai, Istanbul, Mallorca and Greece. However, the QSR-player considers the Eastern European territory as especially attractive: "As far as foodservice offers are concerned, those markets are far from saturated," explains Christof Becker, manager of Nordsee's mother company Heiner Kamps Beteiligungsgesellschaft (HKB) and responsible for the group's internationalisation. He also emphasizes that Eastern European consumers are very quality-conscious and brand-oriented: "This is not only true for car brands or textiles, but also for restaurants." Just the right place for Nordsee.
 

 
The QSR-brand is one of the oldest in Europe: the first Nordsee restaurant opened in 1965 in Darmstadt, Germany. 15 years later, the company already counted over 100 fish-restaurants with a turnover of more than DM100 m (~€50 m). Until the 1990s, Nordsee was a subsidiary of the Unilever Group. Later, it became part of the portfolio of the private quity investment group Apax. Today, Nordsee belongs to the Heiner Kamps Beteiligungsgesellschaft. Perceived as a big and well-established foodservice brand with a strong presence in shopping centers, the blue company nameplate with a red fish symbol is wellknown in Eastern Europe. Unlike in Germany or Austria, where Nordsee is considered an everyman's restaurant, the units in Prague or Budapest, with their clear northern-German design, range among the attractive fast-casual places that are also frequented by well-to-do customers. Take-away offers are received quite favourably, yet many Eastern European guests prefer to eat at the restaurant or have their meals delivered. While the international Nordsee format includes delivery service (not available in Germany or Austria), it does not provide the typical retail counter (‘Meeresbuffet') with fresh fish.
 
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