Where Are They?

Starbucks in Russia

Russia is a tea-drinking nation, but one would hardly make this statement just by touring Russian cities and especially seeing how many coffee houses sprouting in various corners. The so-called third wave coffee culture and indie, Brooklyn-aesthetic coffee shops have found their way into Russia and become an integral part of Russian cities’ street life. That said, coffeehouse chains like Starbucks or Costa Coffee do not seem to be as popular as in other up-and-coming coffee markets like South Korea or China. Starbucks stores are predominantly concentrated in Moscow. Asiatic Russia gets two Starbucks locations in Tyumen, a city just east of the Ural Mountain.

Domino's Pizza in Russia

Among the three U.S. restaurant chains, only Domino’s Pizza has no store located east of the Ural Mountain. Domino’s Pizza stores show even more striking geographic concentration centered in the capital area. Outside of Moscow and Moscow Oblast, Domino’s Pizza can hardly compete with Russian national brands or local chains. In Moscow, Domino’s Pizza faces fierce competition with other international brands, including Pizza Hut, Sbarro, and Papa John’s. Domino’s Pizza certainly aims at replicating in Russia its successful business stories in Germany or India. For example, Domino’s Pizza has a best-selling product named the “Russian” with 13 toppings: potato, beef, pork, bacon, mushrooms, pepperoni and cheese, etc.

KFC in Russia

The parent company of KFC, the YUM! Brands, Inc., has been doing quite well in Russia since the 1990s. KFC has gained mainstream popularity among Russian eaters and has opened more than 600 stores across Russia. KFC’s northernmost Russian store is in Novy Urengoy, only 2 degrees south of the latitude of the world’s northernmost KFC location in Inuvik, Canada (68.358743°N 133.724127°W). In comparison with KFC menus in other countries, such as egg tart in East Asia or Tiramisu in France, those in Russia allegedly offer less variety and less innovation.

All three restaurant chains' geospatial distribution across Russia has been in overall positive correlation to Russia's urban population distribution nationwide. Although Russian population is widely spread out over its vast territory, population density varies significantly by region. The two most populous cities in Russia- Moscow and St. Petersburg- enjoy much higher level of social and economic development. Human and economic resources are still disproportionately concentrated in major urban areas in European Russia. The three U.S. restaurant chains’ geospatial distribution in Russia also reflects some demographic changes the country has undergone over the past decade. For example, people move from the country’s east to the west and north to south in general. The Southern Federal District has been a magnet attracting numerous internal migrants from cold, economically less competitive Siberia and Russian Far East. As seen in the graphs below, Krasnodar, one of the booming urban centers in Southwest Russia, has the third largest number of combined Starbucks, Domino’s Pizza, and KFC stores among all Russian cities.