Low-cost carrier AirAsia may launch restaurants serving its Santan “gourmet” in-flight menu on the ground. The proposal was revealed by AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes while promoting his recent autobiography in an interview with US talk show host Larry King. “I think our food is fantastic,” said Fernandes in response to a question from the audience. “We believe in it so much we’re going to start a fast-food restaurant out of it.”
But Fernandes gave no more details away about the plan, such as where the restaurants might be located or whether he favoured airport locations or city centres.
News that AirAsia may launch restaurants on the ground may come as a surprise to travellers, but Fernandes has previously spun off new business concepts from the airline’s business model including a short-lived budget hotel chain where occupants paid extra for features such as air conditioning, towels and amenities, and a bus service connecting Kuala Lumpur Airport with downtown.
AirAsia also made news recently for its new chatbot Ava (AirAsia Virtual Allstar) which, along with a new look for the firm’s website and mobile app, are designed to deliver a more seamless and user-friendly experience to customers.
Fernandes has also indicated the airline will place increased focus on the Indonesian and Philippines markets in the near future.
Pizza Hut Malaysia will open its 400th store in within the next three months. The company says it plans 15 new stores this calendar year, part of the 67 it announced last year within three years. Parent QSR Brands operates 810 KFC locations in its territory of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Cambodia, drawing 25 million customers per month. It has another 393 Pizza Huts in Malaysia and 80 in Singapore, attracting 6 million diners per month.
QSR Brands restaurants division CEO Merrill Pereyra said Pizza Hut anticipates a strong year as it heads towards a planned IPO in the next quarter, partly aimed to raise capital for network expansion.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Tuesday said it has raised concerns over deep discounting and data masking by food ordering and delivery startups such as Swiggy, Zomato and Ola’s Foodpanda. According to a report, The restaurants’ body said it flagged issues regarding misuse of dominant position, in a meeting with the app-based food ordering and delivery startups.
“NRAI delivery task force had its first meeting with Swiggy, Zomato, Uber Eats and Foodpanda today (Tuesday). Concerns of the standalone and chain business operators regarding deep discounting, data masking, right to use own logistics, private labels and ad hoc campaigns were put forth,” NRAI president Rahul Singh said in a statement.
Stating that the “concerns have been well taken”, he said, “we aim to continue these meetings on a bi-monthly basis for communicating feedback from the restaurant industry to the aggregators to ensure a healthy business environment for all stakeholders.” NRAI is the apex body of the Indian restaurant industry, representing over one lakh restaurants across the country.
Kamereo, a Vietnamese sourcing platform for restaurants, has raised $500,000 in seed funding from Japan’s Genesia Ventures and Velocity Ventures Vietnam. Japanese Taku Tanaka, founder of Kamereo, said the newly acquired money would be used to upgrade the platform’s service offerings and strengthen the customer care team. “We use technology to solve the buying and sourcing problem, and restaurants can focus on their core business to bring the best culinary experience to customers. In future we will expand our services to other sectors and regions.”
From his experience, Tanaka, who moved to Vietnam in 2015 as CEO of a pizza chain, found that procurement operations were mainly labor-intensive and inefficient.
“We believe that technology can solve this problem, providing solutions to reduce the cost of personnel in a transparent and accurate manner,” he said.
The Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered business-to-business procurement platform, established last June, now has more than 4,000 product categories, 120 partner suppliers and 200 registered restaurants.
While Kamereo will focus its resources on Vietnam for now, it is planning a series A round of funding involving a few million U.S. dollars in late 2019 or 2020 to expand in Southeast Asia.
The funding came amid a technology startup boom in Vietnam’s F&B market where delivery platforms such as GoViet and Grab battle for market share down the supply chain.
A report published last October by Vietnam Research said Vietnamese spend more than a third of their income on food and beverages ahead of education and utilities.
Global research firm Nielsen also considered F&B one of the most attractive industries, with the potential to become a major player in the Vietnamese economy, citing findings from one of its studies which found food and beverages were two of the 10 most bought products online in 2017.
Japanese celebrity chefs Hayashi Takao and Matsumura Takahiro are launching a new international noodle soup restaurant brand called “Ramen Cubism”. The brand’s flagship opens in a chic basement venue in Hong Kong’s Wellington Street tomorrow. It is the collaborators’ first overseas venture, launched in partnership with Hong Kong’s Bird Kingdom Group, of Lai Chi Kok’s D2 Place. It marks the first collaboration between Chef Hayashi and Bird Kingdom Group, slated for international expansion with branches across the region – including their hometown of Osaka, Macau (within the next quarter) and Mainland China.
Ramen Cubism introduces Chef Hayashi’s signature ramen creations to Hong Kong, following the success of his Osaka restaurant that regularly attracts long queues of as many as 100 diners.
Pictures gallery below (5 images) :
RAMEN CUBISM Interior
RAMEN CUBISM The Sea Soy Soup
RAMEN CUBISM The Earth Bird – Clear Broth
RAMEN CUBISM Interior 2
Ramen Cubism Chef Hayashi
Equally renowned as a ramen master and recipe developer, Chef Matsumura has previously established eight noodle brands in Osaka, including the newly-opened “The Most Hopeful Ramen Bar in the World”.
In celebration of its launch, Ramen Cubism features Chef Hayashi’s new exclusive Hong Kong recipes, limited to 200 servings a day during opening time.
“Ramen Cubism promises to be a magnet for lovers of this beloved specialty,” said Bird Kingdom Group CEO Eric Ting. “We look forward to building a new generation of followers in Hong Kong and worldwide for this traditional high quality and flavourful comfort food”.
Pizza Hut International on Tuesday announced that Unnat Varma, Managing Director, Pizza Hut India Subcontinent has been elevated to the position of Managing Director, Pizza Hut Asia Pacific effective 1 January 2019. In his new role, he will be responsible for steering Pizza Hut to the next phase of growth across the Asia Pacific region. Varma will be based in Pizza Hut APAC headquarters at Singapore and will report to Vipul Chawla, President, Pizza Hut International. As part of the APAC growth strategy, Pizza Hut India-Subcontinent will now be inducted under the Asia Pacific Business Unit. In total, Varma will oversee over 5500 stores across 22 countries.
With Varma at the helm since 2015, Pizza Hut India-subcontinent has achieved strong business results with 10 successive quarters of positive Same Store Sales Growth. The brand has also expanded its physical store footprint – having recently launched its 500th physical store in the Indian Subcontinent.
Under his stewardship, Pizza Hut has also pioneered the Fast-Casual Delco (FCD) concept in India, which offers a seamless integration of dine-in, takeaway and delivery channels, all under one roof and also upgraded all its digi-tech assets including the website, m-site and mobile app.
These initiatives have enabled Pizza Hut to deliver on the promise of providing the Easiest, Fastest and the Tastiest pizza experience to consumers in India. As a result, Pizza Hut has been voted the most trusted brand in India for the 12th time in a row (as per a reputed media house) and was awarded the prestigious EFFIE Gold in the Foods and Confectionery category in 2018 for its outstanding consumer-centric performance.
Varma is a respected and credible leader with over 24 years of industry experience. He joined Yum! in February 2006 and was elevated to Director Marketing, KFC, India Subcontinent in 2008. In February 2011, he took over the role of General Manager – Taco Bell and was responsible for launching the brand as the next growth engine for Yum! in India.
After successfully establishing a strong foundation for KFC and Taco Bell, Varma was appointed as General Manager – Pizza Hut, India Subcontinent in December 2015and thereafter promoted as Managing Director – Pizza Hut, India Subcontinent in February 2016.
Varma is also the Chairman of FICCI Task Force on Food Service Retail. Prior to joining Yum!, he worked with Gillette in India for 12 years across sales and marketing functions.
Chinese hot-pot chain Haidilao is to open its first outlet in Vietnam. The outlet is located on the second floor of the 68-story Bitexco building in Ho Chi Minh City. Without revealing the opening date, the company has been recruiting office staff and restaurant crews for its Vietnam debut. Hai Di Lao Viet Nam Holdings Company was established in August, headquartered in Hanoi.
Founded in 1994, Haidilao serves Sichuan-style hot pot integrating features from all over China. Until now, the chain has opened 29 restaurants overseas, including in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the US.
Little Caesars Pizza Philippines will launch with its first restaurant next month. The move continues the expansion of the brand’s international footprint with new restaurants in Southeast Asia. The first restaurant to open under the new franchise relationship with local operator Palmtree PH Foods Corp will be located at the Metrosquare Building in Manila.
Senior VP of International for Little Caesars Pizza Paula Vissing said he believes the Philippines is a perfect fit for the company’s international expansion due to its strong affinity for both pizza and value.
Palmtree owner James Kodrowski, who manages a group of companies that operate in the region, said: “Little Caesars Pizza is exactly what this market needs … We believe that the Hot-N-Ready concept will have undeniable market appeal, as well as our commitment to excellent guest service, and superior value. It is our ambition to make Little Caesars the new favorite pizza of the Philippines.”
Little Caesars is the third largest pizza chain in the world, currently operating in 23 countries and territories. It will also open its first location in Singapore in January.
A Deliveroo restaurant has opened in Hong Kong in a trial which, if successful, could see its own-branded eateries opened globally.
Called Deliveroo Food Market, the outlet will serve as both a kitchen for delivering online orders, and a customer-facing storefront where diners can choose between 15 dining concepts.
The 1500sqft kitchen which cost HK$7.5 million (US$960,000) to build, does not have seating for dine-in.
“We find there is an opportunity to bring our online to offline model to our customers,” Brian Lo, Deliveroo GM said.
With Hong Kong boasting some of the most expensive rental prices of any major international city, the pressure on restaurant operators to develop concepts which perform is very high.
“This model works very well for them,” said Lo.
The debut Deliveroo restaurant will open in Sai Ying Pun as an extension of the brand’s Editions program, where eateries share kitchen space to fulfil Deliveroo delivery orders.
Five restaurant brands will share the Deliveroo restaurant space in Hong Kong, offering a combined 15 concepts: Chinese chain Crystal Jade, Pizza Express, Pololi Group, Beef & Liberty and Red Sauce Hospitality.
Singapore-headquartered Crystal Jade is using the kitchen to launch Lao Er and Brother Kwok, two delivery-only virtual brands targeting younger consumers by offering a modern twist on traditional noodle and fried rice dishes.
“This is a location we can have a closer touch with the residents nearby and understand their dining behaviour,” said Wincy Cheung, Crystal Jade’s assistant marketing & communications director. “It allows us to test our new brands. If we opened a physical store, we’d have to consider a lot of things. This delivery platform allows us to reach more customers at a location that we’re not already in,” she said.
Another participant in the trial is Pizza Express which plans to test a new concept called The Pasta Project.
“Deliveroo’s Food Market allows customer-facing trials of new concepts to launch in market much faster, just as we have done with The Pasta Project,” said Pizza Express MD of international, Liam Collette.
He stressed that restaurants are not going to be eliminated by delivery and the company will continue to expand.
Pololi Group will offer Shaka with American-style sushi rolls and Killer Golden Bird with fried chicken, while Beef & Liberty is debuting the vegetarian and vegan Leaves & Liberty concept, using Impossible Meat.
Lo said virtual restaurant brands are already supporting the business of Deliveroo’s partner restaurants. Kai, which serves up customised poke bowls, and Blazed offering Hawaiian BBQ platters are both virtual brands launched by Pololi Limited at the first Deliveroo Editions site, a so-called ‘dark kitchen’ in Wan Chai cooking only for delivery orders, without a customer interface. Both brands have succeeded as a delivery concept, leading to brick-and-mortar stores.
Sai Ying Pun appeal
Deliveroo chose Sai Ying Pun as home for its first Food Market due to the neighbourhood’s fast-expanding food, drink and cafe scene, which is attracting local and expat foodies alike. Deliveroo is also working with partner restaurants to create new corporate-specific offerings for the growing number of businesses now moving into SYP and surrounding districts such as Kennedy Town and Sheung Wan.
“Residential projects, business development and cultural sites are flourishing in the western districts of Hong Kong Island, and yet many popular restaurant brands have little presence in the area,” said Lo.
“Sai Ying Pun is an exciting location for future growth and we are pleased to offer our partners restaurants more reach into this vibrant district and its surrounding areas. In the coming year, Deliveroo will be looking for more opportunities to expand into Kowloon and the New Territories to bring our Food Market concept to more customers across Hong Kong.”
The Sai Ying Pun location is expected to employ up to 30 on-site staff in its kitchen and customer spaces.
Singapore-headquartered multi-dining concept food and beverage operator Jumbo Seafood has opened its first franchised seafood restaurant in Bangkok. The 9500sqft venue is the group’s fifth franchised location worldwide, with other outlets established in Fuzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei and Taichung. There are now 16 Jumbo seafood restaurants across Asia. The new Bangkok restaurant is operated by C J Seafood Co under a 10 year term at the IconSiam mega-development complex.
Jumbo’s CEO and executive director Ang Kiam Meng said: “Having a presence in Bangkok allows us to bring our signature Singapore heritage cuisine to yet another Asian destination.”
Jumbo released its unaudited end-of-year financial report at the end of September, showing an increase in revenue by 5.5 per cent compared to last year’s results. Revenue from operations in Singapore increased by SG$2.1 million (US$1.53 million) over the period, a figure dwarfed by the group’s $5.8 million ($4.2 million) increase out of Mainland China.
Jumbo’s reported gross profit hit $96 million ($69.9 million) this financial year, up 4.4 per cent from $91.9 million ($66.9 million) in last year. Profit attributable to owners of the company, however, decreased by 23.8 per cent ($3.5 million/$2.55 million) to $11 million ($8 million) this year.
