Central Restaurant Group (CRG), operator of the Mister Donut chain, has introduced a new store format in Bangkok to cash in on high-spending customers as part of plans to double annual sales in five years.
Kantapol Srisuwan, general manager for Mister Donut, said a small Mister Donut & Coffee store opened in Siam Paragon shopping centre recently to test the market.
With better-than-expected customer feedback, CRG plans to open two or three more stores in the capital and transform outlets such as those in MBK shopping centre and CentralFestival Pattaya Beach into the new concept.
The Mister Donut & Coffee concept offers some doughnuts that are different from those sold at original stores.
Although the concept has been in Japan for several years, Thailand is the first Southeast Asian country to introduce it.
"Thailand was chosen because it's the largest market for Mister Donut in this region and the second-highest growth market after Japan," Mr Kantapol said.
Though the Thai economy has been slowing due to the political crisis in the first half of this year, sales of Mister Donut remain healthy.
Sales this year are expected to grow by more than 10%, ahead of the 3.5-billion-baht doughnut market, which will rise by 8-9%. Spending per head at Mister Donut has risen to 82 baht per visit from 80 baht last year.
The rising sales are a result of product innovation, special promotions and introducing new sales channels such as mobile units, hospitals and universities. CRG will launch three Mister Donut mobile units to access consumers in the North, South and Northeast.
Mister Donut has 324 branches nationwide. CRG plans to open at least 25 outlets in all formats each year over the next five years, taking the number of Mister Donut branches to 500 by 2019. About 25 branches will be under the Mister Donut & Coffee concept.
The expansion will cost a combined 375 million baht.
CRG expects its overall sales will reach 2 billion baht this year and grow by 18% next year thanks to greater political stability and a brighter economic outlook.