Sak Group, the Indian company that owns Bangkok's Majestic Grande Hotel, is diversifying into the food business by bringing The Great Kabab Factory, a fine Indian dining restaurant, to Bangkok this week.
The move is aimed at strengthening its portfolio and making its business sustainable in the long term as well as reducing risks from relying on only the property business.
Sak Lifestyle Co was set up with 120 million baht in registered capital to operate the food and beverage business, with stakes held by the Sachdev, Anandsongkit and Kunkudatharn families.
The company has spent 15 million baht to open the first Great Kabab Factory outlet, located in the Majestic Grande Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 2.
The Great Kabab Factory is a food chain owned by India's Umak Hospitality Group.
Thailand is the first Southeast Asia country where Umak is offering its kabab dish, after Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Sak Lifestyle managing director Mana Anandsongkit said the company saw a great opportunity for an Indian fine dining venture in Thailand due to growing numbers of Thais appreciating premium foreign cuisine.
Moreover, Bangkok has many expats, while 2 million tourists visit from South Asia and the Middle East annually, he said.
The total spending of Indian and Middle East tourists is estimated at 45 billion baht a year.
In addition to Bangkok, the company will open new kabab restaurants in Pattaya next year, followed by Phuket and Hua Hin. It expects to break even within two years. Each restaurant employs 20 staff.
Apart from the fine dining restaurant, Sak Lifestyle is also eyeing catering services for special events such as Indian weddings and launching a premium Indian sweets brand.
Mr Mana said the kabab restaurant serves customers with 450 signature dishes and provides vegetarian dishes as well. But during the initial stage, the first restaurant will feature only fine dining.
Currently, Umak has 16 Great Kabab Factory restaurants in Asia including Thailand and plans to add eight more in the next 12 months. Of these, six will be in India, one in Kuwait and one in the US.
"With 16 years' experience in India and abroad, we aim to establish The Great Kabab Factory as the No.1 fine-dining kabab restaurant in Thailand," said Anish Potdar, general manager for operations at Umak Hospitality.
Sak Group has been in Thailand since 1947, starting with a fabric business and then developing hotel and condo projects in Bangkok and Pattaya.
Apart from food ventures, the company plans to develop a new project on Pattaya's Jomtien Beach.
It will decide whether the 12-rai project will be a condominium complex or resort hotel in the fourth quarter, but the project will cost between one and 1.5 billion baht.