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.

  • Tony Romas lands in Myanmar

    Tony Romas lands in Myanmar

    Tony Roma’s has opened its first restaurant in Myanmar.

    The ribs and steak centric restaurant is located in the country’s former capital city of Yangon, the commercial center and largest city in the country, with a population of more than 5 million.

    Romacorp, the brand’s owner from the US, has teamed up with franchise partner Apex Food and Beverage Co to bring the Tony Roma’s brand to Myanmar.

    Romacorp President Ken Myres said Apex MD Kyaw Soe Win and his team bring a strong passion for the brand and a unique understanding of the local market to the partnership and Romacorp is confident it will establish the Tony Roma’s brand as a new favorite for Myanmar diners.

    The 6400 sqft restaurant has 210 seats including three VIP rooms, a full-service bar, and a two-story dining room. The restaurant is situated in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Yangon, on a street known for its restaurants and nightlife.

    “Earlier this year, I had the honor to dine in a Tony Roma’s restaurant and fell in love with the food, service culture, and, of course, their world famous ribs,” said Kyaw Soe Win.

    “We are excited to bring Tony Roma’s to the people of Myanmar, the first such venture of a Western casual dining brand in our country. Our restaurant is located in a growing, cosmopolitan area where residents are searching for new tastes, and we are delighted to introduce Tony Roma’s world-famous American fare so our guests can indulge in our ribs, steaks and seafood.”

    Romacorp is headquartered in Orlando, Florida and has more than 150 restaurant locations in more than 30 countries.

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  • Pizza Hut to double Thai network

    Pizza Hut to double Thai network

    Pizza Hut Thailand plans to double its store network within five years.

    In an exclusive interview with The Nation newspaper, the new GM of Pizza Hut Thailand, Sabina Rizvi, says the company has a five year strategic plan to double its current 97-strong network and to achieve double digit profit growth.

    “We want to more than double the number of our Pizza Hut stores in Thailand in the next five years. We will invest more than half a billion baht (US$15.3 million) in our five-year expansion.”

    She said 70 per cent of the new stores would be delivery outlets.

    Last year Pizza Hut opened its first Express restaurant format in Thailand, in the Mega Bangna shopping centre in Bangkok and a second at Seacon Square. At just 50sqm, these outlets are a quarter the size of the standard 200sqm Pizza Hut restaurants in the country. With smaller footprints, rental rates are considerably lower, but the store’s focus is more on delivery or selling to customers who can dine in shared tables of a foodcourt environment.

    Rizvi said the stores were trading well.

    Pizza Hut Thailand posted eight per cent growth in the first three quarters of last year.

    “My vision is to make Pizza Hut the most loved pizza brand in Thailand,” Rizvi said.

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  • Gloria Jeans heads to China

    Gloria Jeans heads to China

    Retail Food Group has partnered with a Chinese company to establish a joint venture.

    RFG has signed a joint venture with Tian Jin Sen Yong Tai (TJSYT) to take the Gloria Jean’s Coffees and It’s A Grind Brand System to China.

    TJSYT already operates two Gloria Jean’s Coffee outlets in China and its parent, China-based GouBuLi Group, has a 150 year old heritage with an annual revenue of RMB1billion (A$197 million). The GouBuLi Group operates more than 30 high end restaurants across China and is also involved in the food processing, logistics and training industries.

    Under the agreement RFG will hold a 20 per cent interest in the joint venture with the remaining 80 per cent to be owned by TJSYT.

    The agreement gives TJSYT an exclusive, perpetual and royalty free licence for Gloria Jean’s Coffees and It’s A Grind Brand System in China.

    FRG CEO, Tony Alford, said the initial fee of $6 million had been received in full.

    “The joint venture represents the culmination of a 12 month engagement between the Gloria Jean’s Coffees Brand System, Tian Jin Sen Yong Tai and their respective associates, and affords RFG immediate revenues in terms of the initial licence fee paid, together with scope for future earnings by way of profit share and supply side opportunity,” Alford said.

    “Importantly, the joint venture unites RFG with a substantial and motivated local partner, well able to apply sufficient resources, retailing expertise and resolve to ensure the success of the enterprise.”

    GouBuLi was established over 150 years ago as a small stuffed-bun shop in Tianjin, outside of Beijing and has grown to become one of the larger catering brands on the Chinese mainland. The company operates more than 30 high-end restaurants across the country and is also involved in food-processing, logistics and training. GouBuLi Group chairman Yan Sen Zhang also has interests in the Chinese Pharmaceutical industry, where he is the controlling shareholder of both TianJin Tong Ren Tang and Tian Jin Hong Ren Tang, brands with more than 200 years heritage.

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  • Picky consumers spur growth in online fresh food sales in China

    Picky consumers spur growth in online fresh food sales in China

    China’s urban consumers, prodded perhaps by a series of food-safety scandals, are becoming much more picky about what they eat. They are increasingly willing to pay a premium for imported products and are being drawn in larger numbers to retailers that deliver fresh fruit and vegetables to the doorstep.

  • Aldi Australia vows to maintain pressure on rivals

    Aldi Australia vows to maintain pressure on rivals

    Discount retailer Aldi Australia has vowed to maintain pricing pressure on rivals in the AUD85 billion (USD69.58b) grocery market, after increasing sales by 13 percent in 2014, outpacing food and liquor sales growth at Coles and Woolworths almost three-fold.

    Aldi Australia’s sales reached AUD6 billion in the 12 months ending December 2014, compared with AUD5.3 billion in 2013. The growth was underpinned by strong same-store sales growth and 25 new stores.

    In comparison, Woolworths’ Australian food and liquor sales grew 4.7 percent to AUD41.7 billion in fiscal 2014 and Coles’ food and liquor sales rose 4.6 percent to AUD29.2 billion.

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  • Outback Steakhouse aims to double growth in Indonesia

    Outback Steakhouse aims to double growth in Indonesia

    Singapore’s Universal Success Enterprises, the franchise holder of Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse chain in Southeast Asia, aims to double its sales growth this year as new stores opens amid a recovery in customers’ purchasing power.

    Outback Steakhouse opened its fourth restaurant in Indonesian last week inside the Lippo Mall Puri, a shopping centre in West Jakarta.

    The new restaurant is expected to nearly double the Indonesian franchise’s annual sales growth to 40 percent this year, compared to average growth of 20 percent, USE chairman Prasoon Mukherjee told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

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  • India set to become a big bakery market

    India set to become a big bakery market

    Fieldfresh Foods, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and California-based Del Monte Pacific, says India is becoming a big bakery market. The company, which sells pastas, sauces, is in the process of increasing its brand penetration both in the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) segments.

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  • GCH to open 4 more Giant hypermarkerts, supermarkets this year

    GCH to open 4 more Giant hypermarkerts, supermarkets this year

    GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, the owner of Giant, Cold Storage, Mercato, Jason’s and G-Express stores, is to open four new Giant hypermarkets and supermarkets in Malaysia this year to add to the 126 it already has.

    They will be in the Klang Valley, Sarawak, Perlis and Trengganu and will further strengthen its position as the country’s largest hypermarket group.

    Its G-Express, a convenience store subsidiary, is also embarking on a similar expansion plan and targets to open 500 nationwide within the next five years.

  • Pizza Hut to sell gluten-free pizza

    Pizza Hut to sell gluten-free pizza

    Beginning Jan. 26, roughly 2,400 of the chain’s 6,300 domestic locations will begin selling gluten-free pizzas. The move comes two years after rival Domino’s rolled out a pizza sold with a gluten-free crust — but not entirely gluten free. Pizza Hut will be the first major pizza chain to sell a pizza that is certified gluten-free.

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  • KFC aims to have 500 outlets by year end

    KFC aims to have 500 outlets by year end

    American quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand KFC plans to become the largest QSR chain in the country and expects to have over 500 outlets by end-2015.

    The company has just launched its “Flaming Crunch Chicken,” which has been spiced using the ‘BhutJolokia’ chilli grown in Assam.

    Talking about expansion, Dhruv Kaul, Chief Marketing Officer, KFC India, said: “We have aggressive plans. It’s our ambition to become the number one QSR chain in the country by next year. We target having over 500 outlets by 2015.”

    Kaul said despite softer consumer sentiment, the company is continuing to open new stores, not only in cities where it is already present but also in new cities. KFC India has over 300 restaurants across 81 cities, which are a mix of franchisee and company-run outlets.

    “Last year was challenging for the industry, but we are confident about 2015. We hope to see an uptick in the economic environment and are well-positioned to leverage it,” added Kaul.

    Vegetarian menu

    Last year, the company expanded its vegetarian menu and it has kick-started this year by introducing a spicier version of its chicken offering. Kaul said: “We have seen a new trend emerging, where our consumers prefer a more intense, spicy experience in their food, After scouting for chillies from around the world, we narrowed down on “BhutJolokia” from Assam. We will continue to focus on introducing products that are rooted in consumer insights.”

    This year, the company will also focus on growing its online ordering facility as an incremental channel for sales. “Last year, we scaled up home delivery significantly across our outlets. Also, without any big push, we have seen growth in online ordering. Stores that offer home delivery are seeing over a quarter of orders coming through the online channel. This year, we will give a big thrust to grow the online ordering,” Kaul added.

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  • New nugget woes strain McDonald’s already tarnished image

    New nugget woes strain McDonald’s already tarnished image

    As McDonald’s Japan struggles to repair its image, tarnished from last year’s expired meat scandal, two new incidents related to its Chicken McNuggets surfaced in restaurants in Japan in the last week, a company spokeswoman admitted Tuesday.

    She said a piece of blue vinyl was found by a customer Saturday in a chicken nugget purchased at a McDonald’s restaurant in Misawa, Aomori Prefecture.

    The fast-food giant also admitted it had received a similar complaint by another customer who bought chicken nuggets on Dec. 31, this time at an outlet in Koto Ward, Tokyo.

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  • Jollibee, partner to operate Dunkin’ Donuts stores in China

    Jollibee, partner to operate Dunkin’ Donuts stores in China

    Philippine fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) and its partner, Asian investment firm RRJ Capital Master Fund II LP, have sealed the deal with Dunkin Donuts Franchising LLC to operate Dunkin’ Donut stores in China.

    In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, JFC said the franchise agreement grants the newly formed joint venture firm Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. the exclusive right to develop Dunkin’ Donuts in Hong Kong, Macau, Fujian, Hunan, Jianxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Guanxi, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shangxi, Chongqing, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Heilongjiang and Jilin.

    Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. is the joint venture company formed by Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of JFC) and Jasmine Asset Holding Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of RRJ Capital Master Fund II, L.P.).

    In an earlier disclosure to the PSE on 19 December, JFC said “the Dunkin’ Donuts deal provides the JV with an excellent opportunity to operate and expand one of the leading global coffee chain brands in the 2nd largest economy in the world.”

    JFC said it will invest USD300 million in the venture, USD180 million of which will be contributed by JPWL. In the first 12 months of operations, JPWL’s initial investment would be about USD18 million.

    As of December 2014, Jollibee operates 811 stores in the Philippines and 101 stores overseas. Dunkin’ Donuts, on the other hand, has nearly 11,000 restaurants in 33 countries worldwide.

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  • Garrett Popcorn opens second HK store

    Garrett Popcorn opens second HK store

    Garrett Popcorn has opened its second store in Hong Kong at the Festival Walm Mall in Kowloon Tong.

    Lance Chody, Chairman and CEO of Garrett Popcorn Shops, said the shop complements its first store located at the IFC Mall shop.

    “We like to say that Garrett Popcorn is Happy Food and we hope that our launch in Festival Walk will make our Hong Kong customers as happy as our popcorn makes us,” said Olivia Huynh, VP APAC Operations at Garrett Popcorn Shops.

    The gourmet popcorn brand is popular throughout the US and many places in Asia including Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

    Signature Flavors include: Caramel Crisp, Cheese Corn, various Nut Caramel Crisps, Buttery, Plain and the famous Chicago Mix, which blends Caramel Crisps’ sweetness with Cheese Corn.

  • Cheaper fuel encourages Australian shoppers to spend

    Cheaper fuel encourages Australian shoppers to spend

    Motorists in Australia have celebrated cheaper petrol prices by going shopping.

    Pump prices have fallen to the lowest point in four years, giving consumers something to be cheerful about following a run of bad economic news.

    The Australian Retailers Association, which represents small businesses and department store Myer, says this has encouraged people to spend, since suburban stores reopened after the Boxing Day sales.

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  • Sheng Siong signs joint-venture deal to run supermarkets in China

    Sheng Siong signs joint-venture deal to run supermarkets in China

    Singapore-listed Sheng Siong Group has signed a conditional joint-venture (JV) agreement with Kunming LuChen Group Co Ltd to operate supermarkets in China.

    Under the conditional agreement, the proposed JV company will be incorporated under the laws of China with a registered capital of USD10 million.