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.
Thailand franchise consultancy Gnosis Co expects a healthy market for franchises in the country. Gnosis MD Sethaphong Phadungpisuth said more than 50 chains from both local and international brands are exploring the market this year following measures to ease regulations on the part of the Business Development Department.
“The Thailand franchise market will become more active this year. We expect the overall number of new franchise brands both from abroad and the domestic market that will open their franchise in Thailand this year to increase by 10 per cent to about 630 brands”, he said.
According to Gnosis, some brands have chosen Thailand as a springboard to other Asean countries, in particular Myanmar and Laos.
Among those diverse brands set to start operations in Thailand this year include Taco Bell, The Edge Learning Centre, and Singaporean hygiene and disinfection products firm Sureclean. Additionally the number of Taiwanese milk tea chains continues to increase in the territory.
Franchise business in Thailand is estimated to be valued at THB250-300 billion (US$7.84 billion).
Philippines fast-food operator Shakey’s Pizza Asia says it plans to continue expansion across the region by opening 20 new stores this year. The openings will see the brand’s total outlets increase to 248 locations, according to a statement released by the firm on Wednesday. “We continue to see consumer spending fueling the Philippine economy, which is still one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing markets,” said president and CEO Vicente L Gregorio.
Shakeys reached its target of opening 20 new stores last year, expanding mostly outside first-tier cities. “We are focused on expanding outside Metro Manila where we see great potential in terms of demand for the premium yet affordable dining experience we provide. We also tapped more local partners … to run our provincial operations and to ensure that we have on-the-ground accountability even in farther-flung areas,” said Gregorio.
Shakeys has operated in the Philippines since 1975 under Shakey’s Pizza Asia, which has stores in several international territories and opened its second Dubai location last year with record-breaking first-day sales.
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”.
South African restaurant chain Barcelos is looking to add 12 more to its kitty in India by the end of 2019-20 as part of an expansion plan, a senior company official said. The company has one restaurant each in Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chennai and two in Mumbai.
“We plan to add 12 more restaurants across the country by the end of next fiscal year,” Rohit Malhotra, Business Head India, Barcelos said.
According to a report: The new restaurants would be in Bengaluru, Pune, Goa, Chandigarh, Kochi, Puducherry, Mumbai, among others, he added. The company is also planning to rename all its big restaurants (area of 1,500 square feet or above) by March next year, Malhotra said.
Barcelos is also looking to open between 10 to 12 smaller outlets in food courts in the country. Such outlets will have area between 300-500 square feet, he added.
When asked about the business model Barcelos follows in India, Malhotra said: “All the outlets are franchise owned. Barcelos works through franchise model in India.”
Regarding investments to expand Barcelos’ presence in the country, he said it will be mainly on research and development for menus, supply chain, marketing and training.
Barcelos started operations in 1993 in Pretoria in South Africa. The company is present in 22 countries, Malhotra said.
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.
International pizza franchise Pezzo has launched in Brunei Darussalam. The brand, operating under Satami Group of Companies, features a “Grab & Go” kiosk serving pizza by the slice for immediate purchase, and a “mix and match” pizza purchase option, whereby customers can collate their own pizza out of 12 different flavours. The brand stakes its reputation on generous toppings with shredded mozzarella cheese.
Pezzo, best-known for its circus-themed design, is exclusively using ingredients certified under the Brunei Halal procedure in the store.
In May of this year, Pezzo launched in Cambodia. The company now boasts more than 120 kiosk outlets, mainly in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung has opened in Covent Garden, London. The new 8000sqft Din Tai Fung London eatery is the franchise’s 153rd globally, and is the first of at least two outlets planned for the city. A second store is planned for Centre Point next year.
The Din Tai Fung London store has been launched by Taster Food UK in partnership with Singapore-based BreadTalk Group.
BreadTalk Group CEO Henry Chu said: “The group will leverage on our experience of operating Din Tai Fung in Singapore and Thailand, and the strength of our overseas partners to continue the tradition of delivering an authentic Taiwanese dining experience to Londoners.”
Brand founder and chairman George Quek commented that there is potential to open 20 Din Tai Fung outlets in Britain, serving as a starting point for further expansion into Europe.
Din Tai Fung has already opened in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, the US and the UAE. It was recognised by the New York Times in 1993 as one of the world’s top 10 restaurants.
