SET-listed S&P Syndicate Plc (SNP), the operator of S&P bakery and restaurant, is rolling out a new bakery shop concept in Bangkok as part of its business strategy to increase its sales opportunities.
Arth Prakhunhungsit, the company's chief operating officer, said the company launched "S&P Bakery Mart'' on the ground floor of Italthai Tower in April this year as a pilot project.
With positive responses from customers, the company is set to roll out the S&P Bakery Mart store concept at 10 branches in Bangkok this year. Some existing bakery shops among the company's 380 branches will also be transformed to the bakery mart concept.
"S&P Bakery Mart store is the company's initiative to solve the existing pain point of consumers who require various kinds of bakery products and increase our sales opportunity,'' Mr Arth said.
An S&P Bakery Mart has a total space of 60 square metres so it is able to display up to 400 bakery items, compared to the original S&P bakery shop concept, which had an average space of 30 sq m and was able to display only 200 products in shops.
The company plans to open S&P Bakery Mart stores in front of supermarkets at shopping complexes, hypermarkets and hospitals.
"The landscape of the restaurant business has been clearly changed because of the pandemic, particularly in terms of channel and product offerings. Product packaging, menus and various prices need to be adjusted to sell more easily via delivery channel when consumers have often ordered a single dish set,'' Mr Arth said, adding that food is also being served via new technology such as drones to save operating costs.
S&P is also studying the use of new technology at its bakeries and restaurants. It used to use robots to serve customers at some branches as a pilot project but stopped this temporarily to make improvements.
Amid the pandemic, he said the firm might shift to robots if it is short of staff.
In addition to the new bakery concept, the company has launched a business continuity plan, focusing mainly on agility.
"We will survive and overcome the pandemic with a 'faster together' scheme including think faster, learn faster and act faster,'' Mr Arth said.
For "think faster", staff need to have a growth mindset, see opportunities ahead, look for new challenges and not stay with successful marketing concepts from the past. For "learn faster", staff will have to learn quickly and relearn in line with new points of view, he said.
Mr Arth said the firm will push its core business such as restaurants and bakery and cakes to grow in a sustainable manner in the next 3-4 years and build delivery as a vital new business portfolio.
