Word: teremok
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...selling traditional food instead of bite-size imports like chicken nuggets, Teremok has grown into Russia's fourth largest fast-food chain. Only McDonald's, Rostik's-KFC (a joint venture with Kentucky Fried Chicken) and the pizza chain Sbarro are larger. Teremok anticipates $110 million in revenue this year, up from $63 million last year, and the company may soon expand into the U.S. and Western Europe. Mikhail Goncharov, 37, Teremok's founder, has big plans for the humble pancake. "We think blini could be for Russia what pizza is for the Italians," he says...
...Teremok began in the wake of the 1998 financial crisis. The name, suggested by Goncharov's mother, who is the company's head chef, translates roughly as "Fairy-Tale Cottage," and the company's rise has been something of a Cinderella story. When the Russian stock market crashed in August 1998, Goncharov lost the electronics-distribution business he had started. "For the first month, I was really sad," said Goncharov, who was born in Kazakhstan and studied mathematics at Moscow State University. "Then I decided I have to start a new company." Earlier that year he had visited London...
...time, fast-food chains were scarce in Russia. McDonald's, a pioneer in Russia, was a model, particularly for its cleanliness and sanitary procedures. "The quality in the Moscow McDonald's is really high," Goncharov says, adding that Teremok strives to match or exceed...
Russian consumers, according to a recent report from Euromonitor International, want to be entertained, so to keep them interested, Teremok regularly introduces new fillings. (The latest is salmon, herring, cucumber and a special sauce). Teremok gives away toys, based on a popular Russian children's cartoon, with kids' meals and uses secret shoppers to monitor workers' politeness. (Bonuses are distributed on the basis of their reports.) All of it is learning by doing. "When I see a problem," Goncharov says, "we buy books on the topic, then we read, then we decide...
Goncharov insists that Teremok will leave its national identity behind--but not the increasingly fashionable national snack--as it goes international. "I don't want to be a Russian company in Germany," he says. "In Europe and America, they don't really like the Russians. But they could like the good products from Russia." Especially if they come with caviar...