Two food chains under Minor Food Group _ Dairy Queen and Burger King _ aim to expand their businesses faster in the second half of this year to respond to the public’s greater spending power.
Anupon Nitiyanant, marketing manager of Minor DQ Co, which operates the Dairy Queen ice-cream chain, said the company planned to open an additional 30 Dairy Queens this year, topping last year’s expansion.
The new outlets will bring its total to 250 by year-end. Dairy Queen will expand faster this year because the brand is stronger, indicating better-than-expected customer feedback from the opening of 10 Dairy Queens in the first half.
At the same time, sales from existing locations in the same period grew by 14%, also higher than earlier projections.
Mr Anupon said the positive performance stemmed from the opening of new outlets, nationwide promotion and the renovation of existing outlets to have a similar design as in overseas markets.
The company expects sales to rise 20% to 1.2 billion baht, beating the soft ice-cream industry’s growth of 10%.
While Dairy Queen revenues mainly come from Blizzard products, it will put more effort into its MooLatte blended coffee drink, a new business pillar. The sales contribution of MooLatte is seen rising to 16% from the current 10%.
Meanwhile, Nardtayar Kijthaweesin, marketing manager of Burger (Thailand) Co, said the chain aimed to double its business over the next two years. It plans both horizontal and vertical business strategies to attract more diners.
“When talking about burgers, Thai consumers now think of Burger King only for its meat menu. The thing they don’t know is we also offer various menu items from meat and chicken to fish,” Ms Nardtayar said.
She said the company would increase its reliance on local customers with new menus and more suitable sizes.
Sales at Burger King in the first six months of the year grew at a double-digit rate. It opened one outlet at Central Festival Phuket in the first half, bringing the total to 27. With the country’s better economy and rebounding tourist numbers, the company plans to open several Burger Kings in the second half.
Source: Bangkok Post
