Хесбургер в России: история ухода и трансформация в SuperBurger

Finnish fast food chain

Hesburger (colloquially known in Finland as Hese and in Estonia as Hess) is a fast food chain based in Turku, Finland. Today, it is the largest hamburger restaurant chain in Finland, The company also operates Hesecafes, which sell pastries and specialty coffees, as well as hot dog outlets.

The chain's history reaches back to 1966, as well as a single location in Alanya, Turkey (opened in 2014, closed unknown date). There was a Hesburger in Damascus, Syria for a short period between 2004 and 2006, but it was closed as unprofitable. Further expansion into the Middle East has been discussed by the company.

The first attempts to enter the Russian market were made at the end of the 80's. In the summer of 1988 through the joint Soviet Finnish enterprise in St. Petersburg (and later in Vyborg and Petrozavodsk) street tents opened under the Liha Polar brand made in the Hesburger color scheme. In the menu was hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and other dishes are typical for Hesburger. In the late 1990s/early 2000s restaurants ceased to exist for unknown reasons. The first Russian Hesburger opened in January 2010 in Moscow, and a year later in St. Petersburg. The network worked on the rights of master franchise LLC Rusburger, owned by the meat industrial company Ostankino. By the end of 2012, Hesburger still opened 13 restaurants, as well as with the help of partners launched restaurants in Ufa, Krasnoyarsk and in the far East. In December 2013, Hesburger changed owners and became a group of companies called "Megagrupp". On March 29, 2022, Hesburger announced a slow departure from the Russian and Belarusian markets. 40 restaurants are available in Russia. In May, a local brand called SuperBurger was registered and the new restaurant logo resembles the traditional Hesburger logo. In the future, it will replace Hesburger. As of 19 April 2023, some Hesburger restaurants continue to operate.