Former McDonald’s restaurants reopen without branding in Kazakhstan

ALMATY (Reuters) -Several restaurants which used to operate under the McDonald’s brand in Kazakhstan reopened on Monday with no branding to serve fast food under generic names such as “Cheeseburger”, weeks after the U.S. company left the local market.

Former licensee Food Solutions KZ said in a statement it would maintain “the high quality and service standards adopted earlier” and would soon present its new brand name.

McDonald’s and Food Solutions KZ terminated their licence agreement this month, citing supply issues. Sources earlier told Reuters that McDonald’s Kazakhstan had stopped buying supplies from Russia and had trouble replacing them.

Food Solutions KZ did not say on Monday whether it has replaced any components such as beef patties with Kazakh produce, and declined to comment on any questions not addressed in its statement.

Its new menu included items such as beef, chicken and fish burgers as well as chicken nuggets, fries and ice cream.

McDonald’s closed its Russian restaurants soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last February, eventually selling to a local licensee, Alexander Govor, who in June unveiled the Vkusno & tochka brand, which means “Tasty & that’s it”.

(Reporting by Pavel Mikheyev and Mariya GordeyevaWriting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)