5 Hot Markets in Asia

With a crowded, competitive restaurant market in the U.S., many operations have headed overseas to drive their growth. While there are many potential pitfalls of international expansion, it’s proven to be successful for big brands and emerging concepts alike. Here, we look at five Asian markets—Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, China and Japan—using Technomic Ignite company data to identify the largest chains and their year-over-year growth in each market. One thing is clear: The big U.S. brands are big in Asia, too. Yum Brands, McDonald’s and Starbucks all have a large presence, mixed among the largest homegrown chains for the most stores in each country. 

Read on for an analysis of the Asian market as well as a dive into the densest chains.