Retail News CRM

Category: Food

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Food and Food & Beverage news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Hong Kong entrepreneur launches boutique wine concept Penticton at The Mills

    Hong Kong entrepreneur launches boutique wine concept Penticton at The Mills

    Bespoke wine seller Penticton is bringing little-known French vintages to Hong Kong.

    The business incorporates sulfite-free vintages and labels from female producers in its collection of curated bottles.

    “We are driven to discover the most intriguing expressions of what wine can be, and like to think that there is a story behind each bottle that we import,” said company head and Le Cordon Bleu-trained sommelier Olivia Lee in an interview with HKTDC’s online magazine Hong Kong Means Business.

    “By uncovering the secrets of lesser-known makers and female winemakers, we aim to shine a light on a new generation of innovative winemaking.”

    Penticton works with winemakers who “respect their role as custodians of nature” and focuses on Hong Kong as one of the world’s largest wine ports that remains heavily skewed towards more the well-known labels.

    The firm now attracts many customers to Tsuen Wan with special events such as tastings and plans to open further outlets in the New Territories area.

  • Vietnam to buy more American, European pork

    Vietnam to buy more American, European pork

    Fifty more pork producers in the U.S., France and Belgium will export to Vietnam where African swine fever has decimated pig herds.

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade said this is in addition to the more than 1,600 foreign pork exporters who had already been identified.

    This follows Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue’s call for importing 100,000 tonnes in the first quarter of this year to stabilize pork prices. Imported pork costs VND35,000 ($1.5) per kilogram, a fraction of domestic prices.

    In the Mekong Delta, prices have recently fallen by 20 percent to VND80,000 ($3.5), while in northern localities, they are down 10 percent to VND90,000 ($3.9).

    African swine fever, which is fatal to pigs but does not affect humans, broke out in February, causing pig numbers to fall by more than 25 percent between January and December last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    Pork output fell 14 percent to 3.29 million tonnes, it added. Imports more than doubled in January-November to 110,000 tonnes.

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  • Luckin Coffee ways into the vending-machines landscape

    Luckin Coffee ways into the vending-machines landscape

    China’s largest coffee chain Luckin Coffee is moving into the vending machines market.

    “It allows us to get closer to consumers and we are not restricted by the license approvals,” said Luckin founder and CEO Qian Zhiya of the new strategy. Luckin’s machines will serve freshly brewed drinks as well as food.

    The firm also launched a share placement and a convertible bond worth a combined US$821 million last week, according to a report.

    Proceeds will be used to open more stores and to invest further in sales and marketing.

    Luckin recently overtook Starbucks in terms of the number of outlets within the territory, operating more than 4500 stores. The firm focuses primarily on the coffee delivery and pickup business, and so stores are typically smaller in size than Starbucks locations and some are without seating.

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  • Longreach Group bought Japan’s Caffe Veloce

    Longreach Group bought Japan’s Caffe Veloce

    Asian private equity firm The Longreach Group has again acquired a Japanese coffee chain – this time the Caffe Veloce from Chat Noir Company.

    Without disclosing the amount of the transaction, The Longreach Group said it has agreed to buy Caffe Veloce, a year after buying Kohikan from UCC Foodservice Systems (UFS).

    The company said the acquisition reflects its core investment focus on acquiring and adding value to high potential companies in the specialty consumer business sector.

    “We will accelerate Chat Noir’s growth through the enhancement of a variety of menu items, new marketing campaigns and via new store expansion to regional markets in Japan,” it added.

    Chat Noir has 190 Caffe Veloce locations across Japan.

    Founded  in 2003, The Longreach Group has experience in the food and beverage industry and wholly owns Wendy’s First Kitchen. It also has minority ownership in McDonalds Japan.

  • Indian tea chain Chai Kings ready for expansion

    Indian tea chain Chai Kings ready for expansion

    Indian tea retailer Chai Kings has secured US$1 million in funding from a group of angel investors, including The Chennai Angels, Hyderabad Angels and TiE India Angels.

    The Chennai-based tea retail chain aims to launch 100 stores over the next five years and become the nationally preferred purveyor of chai teas. It is currently operating in 40 locations and delivers tea to customers’ doorsteps within Chennai.

    “We are very excited to partner with Chai Kings in the bridge round,” said The Chennai Angels’ lead investor in the round Piyush Bhandari. “We believe the company has a strong leadership team with immense potential to grow and expand across India. The new investment reiterates our commitment towards building a sustainable and scalable Indian QSR.”

    “We are happy with the success and progress of our brand in Chennai, and this funding round will help us expand into newer cities,” said Chai Kings CEO Jahabar Sadique. “We hope to enter Coimbatore, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad in this year, and get closer to our target of 100 stores in five years. Apart from expansions, the bulk of this funding will be utilized to strengthen our operations and supply chain management.”

  • American chain Gelato-go makes Asian debut in Hong Kong

    American chain Gelato-go makes Asian debut in Hong Kong

    US artisanal gelato brand Gelato-go has launched its first store in Asia at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong.

    Located at The Nate, Gelato-go Hong Kong features more than 20 flavors of gelato handcrafted daily for consumers.

    “We know Asian customers love sweet dessert and we have a huge variety of Italian dessert and gelato flavors,” said Alessandro Alvino, co-founder at Gelato-go. “Bringing it to Hong Kong is to share something from our country”.

    Beside its selection of fresh Italian ice cream and snow mousse flavors, it also offers different styles of desserts, sandwiches, and beverages, such as traditional Italian Cannoli ricotta cheese rolls, cream croissants and milkshakes.

    Founded in 2013 by three young Italians, Gelato-go is one of the fastest-growing chains in its category within the US market and operates 14 locations between Florida and California. Hong Kong is its first destination outside US.

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  • Carrefour acquires lunch delivery service Dejbox

    Carrefour acquires lunch delivery service Dejbox

    Supermarket giant Carrefour Group has acquired lunch delivery service, Dejbox, expanding its online grocery service to ready-to-eat meals and the B2E market.

    “This acquisition, which reflects Carrefour’s desire to become the leader in grocery e-commerce, is a strategic one,” Amelie Oudea-Castera, executive director customers, services and digital transformation at Carrefour, said. “It will give us the opportunity to expand our customer base to include employees of medium-sized, small and micro businesses and also invest in the fast-growing food delivery segment with an offering rooted in quality and affordability.”

    Dejbox was found by Adrien Verhack and Vincent Dupied in 2015 to provide food in an online canteen for employees. It offers lunch including fresh, cooked and seasonal dishes for €5.90 to €8.90 and it delivers the food to their workplace at no charge.

    Dejbox is an online and mobile app with menu offerings to cater to French employees working in the urban hinterland and doesn’t have much access to onsite dining service. It is operating in Lille, Lyon, Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes and Grenoble – delivering over 400,000 meals each month.

    Carrefour said the acquisition will allow Dejbox to expand its French operations faster into international markets and grow quickly into B2B services.

    “We made the strategic decision to join with Carrefour because we firmly believe it’s the best possible partner for helping us achieve our ambitious growth plans for Dejbox and for offering as many people as possible an online, affordable, sustainable and tasty alternative to a sandwich or a home-cooked meal,” Verhack and Dupied said.

  • Cold Stone Creamery Singapore to shut down by month’s end

    Cold Stone Creamery Singapore to shut down by month’s end

    Ice-cream chain Cold Stone Creamery will close all three of its stores in Singapore at the end of this month.

    Cold Stone Creamery Singapore operates three stores, located at Hill V2, VivoCity and Waterway Point. The brand has operated in the city for the last 10 years.

    The local operator of the brand is Refinery Concepts, the restaurant and lifestyle-food arm of Far East Organization, which operates 14 businesses in the city, including Dean & Deluca. Oriole Coffee & Bar, Cin Cin and Fat Cow.

    To mark the closure, Cold Stone Creamery Singapore will offer discounts and free branded merchandise to customers to “thank them” for support during the decade.

    The US-founded brand continues to operate in other Asian markets, including Thailand, Japan, South Korea and China.

  • Luckin Coffee stronger than Starbucks in China

    Luckin Coffee stronger than Starbucks in China

    Luckin Coffee has now become the largest coffee chain in China, surpassing Starbucks in terms of number of locations.

    The firm has launched 4500 outlets within the Chinese territory, around 200 more than its Seattle-headquartered competitor. The brand soared past Starbucks late last year and has rapidly multiplied its footprint in the market backed by strong investment from supporters such as BlackRock.

    The firm focuses primarily on the coffee delivery and pickup business, and so stores are typically smaller in size than Starbucks locations and some are without seating. Starbucks itself has responded to the challenge by entering into a partnership with Alibaba to offer a more robust delivery solution.

    Many of Luckin’s new locations are in areas not currently served by Starbucks.

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  • Cheese-tea chain Machi Machi to launch in Singapore

    Cheese-tea chain Machi Machi to launch in Singapore

    Machi Machi, the Taiwanese cheese-tea chain which went viral after featuring in a music video of Mandopop king Jay Chou, is set to debut in Singapore.

    Named after Chou’s wife’s pet dog, Machi Machi Singapore will open at 25 Arab Street this month.

    According to the franchise owner, the Singapore outlet will have “no seats”, but is hoped to be launched before Jay Chou’s upcoming Carnival World Tour concert in the city on January 10 and 11.

    The Singapore store will offer its signature drink “God of Cheese Tea” together with other 18 items, including panna cotta, tea with fresh fruit, and the classic milk tea with pearls.

    Machi Machi now has stores in 10 countries including Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, France, Australia, Canada, Sweden and the UK.

  • Taiwan’s Mr Brown coffee shutters stores

    Taiwan’s Mr Brown coffee shutters stores

    Taiwanese cafe chain Mr Brown coffee has shuttered eight outlets in Taipei due to falling customer demand, among other factors.

    The closures include a sizeable store in central Tamsui that will cease trading later this month. Employees at the affected outlets have been reassigned, with others leaving the firm.There have been no reported mass layoffs of staff.

    A representative from Mr Brown coffee, which is a subsidiary of King Car Group, confirmed that falling sales as well as rental costs in some cases influenced the decision to close the stores. Another two outlets may also be closed in the near future. Rising competition in the sector may have played a part in the shift in consumer demand.

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  • Hong Kong’s Pirata Group to open new concept The Pizza Project

    Hong Kong’s Pirata Group to open new concept The Pizza Project

    Pirata Group has launched a new concept in Central, called The Pizza Project.

    Located on Peel Street, The Pizza Project will mirror the simple one-page menu format of its popular Pici chain, but with a focus on only pizzas. The Pizza Project will be helmed by chefs Andrea Viglione and Davide Borin and Pici operations manager Nacho Lopez.

    “We believe in engaging and connecting with people in meaningful ways to enrich experiences and make them available to everyone,” says Pici team. “We envision bringing excellent pizza at a fair price, so that everyone can enjoy pizza the same way we did back home,”

  • 7-Eleven Malaysia buys into ride-hailing service

    7-Eleven Malaysia buys into ride-hailing service

    7-Eleven Malaysia Holding has acquired a 46.45-per-cent equity stake in local delivery firm Myinteractivelab (MSB) for US$1.8 million.

    According to a SEM’s spokesperson, the company entered into an agreement to accquire 490,030 shares of MSB with founder Nabil Fiesal Bamadhaj, who is the owner of Dego Rides, which launched on January 1.

    “The subscription represents an opportunity for the SEM Group to acquire a substantial equity stake in MSB, which will be undertaking the e-hailing bike services and to provide convenient delivery services for its 7-Eleven outlets,” SEM said in a stock-exchange filing.

    MSB, which operates Dego App, Dego Partners, and Dego Orders, is currently in the process of securing the licence and approval to run electronic hailing motorcycle-taxi services.

    The government had recently announced it would embark on a proof of concept trial for e-hailing bike services in the Klang Valley for the first six months this year.

    “The government’s initiative in undertaking the program is a positive step and augurs well with the proposed subscription as Dego Ride is the only company in Malaysia, besides Singapore’s GrabBike and Indonesia’s Gojek, which has indicated its interest in the program,” said SEM’s spokesperson.

    With 1500 riders and more than 60,000 users in three months before it was banned by the government in 2017, Dego Ride aims to increase its rider number to more than 4000.

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  • ‘Grab-and-go’ coffee chain Kopi Kenangan reaches 200 stores

    ‘Grab-and-go’ coffee chain Kopi Kenangan reaches 200 stores

    Southeast Asian “grab-and-go” coffee chain Kopi Kenangan will expand its June Series A funding round with additional investments.

    The funding is being sourced from Roc Nation company Arrive; Serena Ventures; world-renowned basketball player Caris LeVert; and Sweetgreen CEO & co-founder Jonathan Neman, amongst others. Sequoia India, which led the US$20 million Series A round in June last year, also participated in this expansion.

    “We are inspired by Kopi Kenangan’s tenacity, vision, and ability to execute,” said Arrive co-founder and president Neil Sirni. “In just two years, they have expanded to 18 cities, 200 stores, and over 1800 employees. We’re excited to be an investor in and partner to Kopi Kenangan as they introduce Indonesian-style coffee to the world.”

    Kopi Kenangan sells at a price point between the high-priced coffee served at international coffee chains – which are beyond the price range for most Indonesians – and the instant coffee sold at many street stalls.

    Just a year ago, Kopi Kenangan only had 16 stores while serving a few thousand cups a day. Today, Kopi Kenangan it serves more than 3 million cups of beverage each month. On average, the company is opening more than one store per day.

    Kopi Kenangan plans to add more than 1000 new stores over the next two years and expand across Southeast Asia.

    “We want to build a legendary brand, and we’re excited to work with our new investors and advisors who have built global consumer franchises spanning sports, entertainment, F&B, and technology,” said CEO and co-founder Edward Tirtanata.

    “We have come a long way since our humble beginnings two years back and want to continue learning and improving our service and products to meet the expectations of our customers in Indonesia and other markets.”

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  • Vinamilk acquires majority stake in competitor

    Vinamilk acquires majority stake in competitor

    Vietnam’s biggest dairy company Vinamilk has acquired a majority stake in Moc Chau Milk, entrenching its market dominance.

    Vinamilk, formally Vietnam Dairy Products Jsc, has increased its ownership in GTNfoods from 43.17 percent to 75 percent, the dairy giant said in a recent statement. GTNfoods own a 51 percent stake in Moc Chau Milk, the biggest dairy producer in the north.

    The majority of shares were bought on December 18, when the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange recorded almost VND1.8 trillion ($77.54 million) worth of GTN shares being acquired at the price of VND22,800 (98 cents) per share, 5.5 percent higher than market value.

    Vinamilk made the acquisition two days after shareholders of GTNfoods approved the sale. In March, the board of GTNfoods rejected Vinamilk’s proposal to increase ownership.

    Analysts say that the deal will expand the ecosystem of Vinamilk amidst slower growth. Moc Chau Milk accounts for 9 percent of the market, which would take Vinamilk nine years to gain at its current expansion rate, according to stock brokerage Saigon Securities Inc (SSI).

    Vinamilk accounts for over half of the dairy market. In the third quarter, it posted revenues of VND14.29 trillion ($615.58 million), up 4 percent year-on-year, against a target of 7 percent.

    Vietnam’s dairy output rose 6.9 percent to 936,000 tons last year, and is set to rise to one million tons next year and two million tons by 2030, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    The firm exports dairy products to 46 markets with 70 percent going to the Middle East.

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