Zen Corporation Group Plc (ZEN), the operator of Zen and Aka restaurants, aims to triple its new restaurant openings this year and adjust its strategy to focus more on street food to reduce its risk from overreliance on Japanese food.
Chief executive Boonyong Tansakul said it plans to open 123 new restaurant branches under its 12 food brands this year, up from 43 new branches last year.
Some 87 restaurants will be expanded on a franchise basis and the rest will be developed by the company's own equity.
Forty new restaurants will be opened under Khiang, its street food brand, via five business models. The remaining 83 restaurants will be under another 11 brands.
The company is collaborating with PTT Plc to rent space at 70 PTT petrol stations to open new restaurant branches this year. About 40 petrol stations will host Khiang restaurants.
Khiang was introduced to the market in December last year as Thai street food, aimed at middle- to low-income customers. The brand augments its existing portfolio, which focuses on the mid- to high-end segment.
"We want to open Khiang restaurants outside of retail complexes because that market is already saturated. Fewer younger people go to retail complexes and restaurant competition outside retail complexes remains relatively low," Mr Boonyong said.
The market for street food is worth up to 300 billion baht per year, he said.
Menu items at Khiang vary from 50-300 baht, with average spending of 120-150 baht per time. Eight branches are open and nine more are planned for food courts, community malls, PTT petrol stations, shophouses, MRT stations, hospitals and universities in the second half of this year.
To speed up expansion, Mr Boonyong said the company will start expanding Khiang restaurants on a master franchise basis during the 31st Thailand Franchise Expo to be held at BCC Hall, 5th floor, CentralPlaza Ladprao.
During the expo, the company will reduce the entrance fee of those who are interested to apply for Khiang franchise to 350,000 baht from 400,000 baht and a fixed monthly loyalty fee at 12,500 baht a month from 3% of annual sales.
Zen Corporation was founded 28 years ago, focusing on Japanese food including Zen and Aka restaurants. The company has extended its portfolio by acquiring Tummour, Isan restaurant, under its portfolio in 2016. It now has a total of 12 food brands under the group.
Thailand's food business is estimated to be worth 800 billion baht. Of the total, street food represents 300 billion baht, full-service restaurant 180 billion, bakery business 100 billion, food delivery over 10 billion and pubs and restaurants, quick-service restaurants and desserts account for the remaining 210 billion.
The company's investment this year is set at 230 million baht, up from 100 million last year. It expects sales to reach 3.6 billion baht this year, up from last year's 3 billion.
