Taco Bell Corp. is planning to open its first location in China by the end of the year, executives of the Irvine-based chain said during a Bank of America Merrill Lynch consumer and retail conference in New York.
The restaurant will be in Shanghai.
Taco Bell is the only brand of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc. not yet in China. The company also operates the KFC and Pizza Hut fast-food chains.
KFC and Pizza Hut have a combined 6,700 locations in China, a market with a population of more than 1 billion.
Yum Chief Executive Greg Creed, the former head of Taco Bell, said placing it in the market comes with low risk and low cost and that he should know quickly whether the Mexican quick-service foods will appeal to Chinese diners.
Taco Bell has been slow to expand internationally in general, and the vast majority of its 6,400 stores are in the U.S.
—Michael de los Reyes
