Five Star Chicken, a fast food brand under the Charoen Pokphand Group's umbrella, plans to expand its Asian operations to Singapore and Malaysia.
saeng"We want to be a top chicken brand in Asia as it will be in line with our subsidiary Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF)," said Sanjeev Pant, the vice-president of branded food at Charoen Pokphand (India) Pvt Ltd.
CPF operates chicken feed and farm businesses in nine Asian countries - India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.
Under its five-year plan, Five Star Chicken will expand across the region along in line with market potential after it opened in the emerging market of India six months ago and in Vietnam two years ago.
In India, the food chain has received good feedback from its 20 restaurant branches in Bangalore and plans to open others in cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi.
It plans to have 500 branches in India in five years at a cost of US$50 million.
The company will also intensify marketing and investment in Vietnam by adding 500 street stands in Hanoi and Danang at a cost of $50 million in five years. It currently has just 50 stands in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Thai market for Five Star Chicken is quite mature with 5,000 outlets and 10% growth.
"That's why we must expand our business to overseas," Mr Pant said.
With its vision of being an Asian brand, the company is looking to penetrate Singapore, a strategic location for Asian branding.
It is also eyeing Malaysia, where CPF has a feed operation and farm.
Only 10% of Five Star Chicken's revenue is from international markets, but in the next five years that figure is expected to increase to 30%.
Although global brands such as McDonald's, KFC and Subway still predominate in Singapore and Malaysia, the cheaper pricing strategy of Five Star Chicken will give it an advantage in these markets.
Investment per branch is cheaper than international food brands at 300,000 to 400,000 baht.
With a 10-month guarantee of breaking even, more franchisees should be attracted to help expansion.
Five Star Chicken operates in six Asian countries and has 20 restaurants in India.
It also has 50 street stands in Vietnam, 70 in Cambodia, 80 in Bangladesh, five in Laos and 5,000 in Thailand.