Ravenous Oishi goes aggressive for global growth

Ravenous Oishi goes aggressive for global growth

Oishi Group Plc is in talks with a giant retail company in Japan to supply food to the Japanese supermarket chain next year.

The move is part of its plan to drive overseas sales to 3 billion baht by 2019.

Paisarn Aowstaporn, Oishi's executive vice-president for food business, said it was approached by the Japanese retail chain seeking to replace its Chinese supplier.

Oishi is in the process of sending food samples to Japan. The Japanese retailer will also visit Oishi's central kitchen in Chon Buri before making a final decision within the next three to six months.

Oishi sees a huge opportunity to export gyoza to Japan. Apart from Japan, the company was contacted by companies in Taiwan, Dubai and China to produce semi-processed food for them.

This is an initial step for Oishi to expand its food business overseas both under its own brand and original equipment manufacturer contracts. Its overseas sales goal is 3 billion baht in 2019.

As part of the aggressive overseas growth, the company has spent about 800 million baht on its new central kitchen on a 43-rai plot in Chon Buri. An additional 152 rai has been earmarked for future expansion.

During the initial stage, the new central kitchen with several global standard certifications has two zones — one for cooked food and the other for raw material preparation for soups and sandwiches to supply 7-Eleven convenience stores and leading supermarkets.

"With our aggressive plan overseas, we have applied many central kitchen standards from Singapore, Germany and Japan to ensure that our food is of high quality," Mr Paisarn said.

Currently, Oishi utilises only 30% of the central kitchen's capacity. It produces 14 million pieces of gyoza, 2 million sandwiches and bakery items and 1,579 tonnes of soup and sauce per month. The output serves both domestic and overseas markets.

Mr Paisarn plans to open 50 new Oishi restaurants with an investment of 600-700 million baht per year.

There are 212 Oishi restaurants across the country and the figure will reach 225 by the year-end. Of the total,  104 branches belong to Shabushi, with 55 Oishi Ramen branches and 19 Oishi Buffet outlets. Nikuya, Takachi and Oishi Grand account for the remainder. The company plans to add a new dessert brand soon.

"We want to be the king of food and people can find our restaurants at every corner. We see huge potential for the Shabushi brand and will open its restaurants everywhere MK Sukiyaki goes," Mr Paisarn said.

In addition, the company plans to sell ready-to-eat meal boxes at hypermarket chains next year. It plans to open the third branch of Shabushi in Myanmar next year, with Laos and Cambodia to follow.

Sales of Oishi food are expected to reach 7 billion baht this year, up 15% from last year. Food sales are set to reach 13 billion baht by 2019.

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