Sebastian Shehadi is a freelance journalist and a contributing writer at the New Statesman. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, BBC, Novara Media and Middle East Eye. He tweets at: https://twitter.com/seblebanon?lang=kn
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, most major Western fast-food chains closed up shop, sold off assets, and exited the Russian market.
This was particularly true of the highly visible food sector. Major Western food and drink chains, including McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut, Hard Rock Cafe, and the Jamie Oliver Group, have all since left Russia.
A small cohort of six American fast-food chains decided otherwise. The franchises of Subway, Carl’s Jr., Papa John’s, Costa