Minor to take The Pizza Company, Swensen's to more provinces

       The Minor Food Group, the leading operator of quick-service and fast-casual restaurants, will expand its core brands - The Pizza Company and Swensen's - into third-tier provinces through franchising.
       The company claims 100-per-cent coverage of first- and second-tier provinces, which have populations of more than 1 million and between 500,000 and 1 million, respectively.
       Arth Prakhunhungsit, general manager-franchising, said the company would open 10 new franchised restaurants each for The Pizza Company and Swensen's focusing on third-tier provinces, which have a population of less than 500,000. These include Nakhon Phanom, Yasothon, Kalasin, Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kamphaeng Phet, Trat, Satun, Phang Nga and Narathiwat.
       "With franchising, we are able to expand our flagship restaurant brands more aggressively, especially in second- and third-tier provinces," said Arth.
       He added that the company had reduced the investment cost for its franchisees opening restaurants by 15 per cent on average by simplifying store designs and fixtures.
       The initial cost for opening each The Pizza Company outlet through franchising is about Bt10.5 million, and about Bt6 million for each Swensen's restaurant. Each store occupies an average space of between 180 and 200 square metres.
       He said the company also required local entrepreneurs to have knowledge and skills in their own communities.
       "We have a strong management system, which can be applied and implemented immediately by our franchisees," he added.
       Arth said the company started franchising The Pizza Company brand in 2002, while franchising of Swensen's began in 2004.
       Minor Food Group operates 203 The Pizza Company restaurants in Thailand, 49 of which are franchised outlets.
       The company also has 39 The Pizza Company restaurants in many markets abroad, including China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Cambodia. About 14 of these outlets, mainly in China, are the company's own.
       Arth said the company had 216 Swensen's restaurants in Thailand, of which 102 are franchises. It also has six franchised Swensen's in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Cambodia.
       "We plan to open new franchised outlets for both The Pizza Company and Swensen's in Laos in December, and early next year in Vietnam and India," said Arth.
       He said all franchisees would run their restaurants under 10-year contracts. The payback period will be about four years.
       Minor Food Group yesterday announced 24-per-cent growth in year-to-date sales by The Pizza Company franchised restaurants. The corresponding growth for Swensen's franchised outlets is 38 per cent from the same period last year.
       Average same-store growth for both The Pizza Company and Swensen's in the first nine months of the year came in at 2 per cent. This represents an improvement on the 1-per-cent average posted last year.
       "We expect our franchised outlets, both The Pizza Company and Swensen's, to generate combined sales of about Bt1.6 billion by the end of this year, about Bt790 million of which will be from The Pizza Company," said Arth.