Thailand's franchise business remains attractive, with a number of foreign food and retail chains, most notably from Singapore, looking to explore opportunities in Thailand this year.
Setthaphong Phadungpisuth, managing director of Gnosis, a franchise consultancy, said 14 food and retail brands from Singapore are scheduled to conduct business matching with Thai investors this weekend.
The brands include R&B Tea Singapore; Elemen, a Chinese vegetarian restaurant; Stuff'd, for fast-casual dining (kebabs, salads); Yole yoghurt and ice cream; Mr Popiah, a spring roll supplier; The Soy Inc bubble tea; Boon Tong Kee chicken rice; and Hoo Kee Bak Zhang, a traditional rice dumpling restaurant.
"Thailand remains very attractive for foreign investors around the world because the country's food market is very big and dynamic," Mr Setthaphong, said adding that his company has arranged five business matching events for food and other franchise business since early this year.
He said that in 2018 and 2019 more than 50 international food brands have visited Thailand to look for a master franchisee to expand their food business here.
The brands include Bingirl restaurant and Cha Ji Tang drink from Taiwan; Fidele, a seafood chain from the US; Presotea, Australia's premium tea; and Yang Xiang, a Hong Kong food brand.
Previous overseas franchise brands that tried to find franchisees in Thailand included Little Caesars Pizza, Denny's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Mosquito Squad, The Boiling Crab, and Tapout Fitness from the US; Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot from China; and Brotzeit German Bier Bar & Restaurant from Singapore.
Mr Setthaphong said Southeast Asia is a strategic region for food operators to expand into because of the big population and the continuous growth of the middle-income segment.
Many foreign brands debuted in Thailand last year and this year, including Taco Bell, Tiger Sugar Taiwanese bubble milk tea, Jumbo seafood, Harbour buffet, Kyzzan shabu and Sushi Otaru Maza Sushi (omakase).
"We expect the franchise market in Thailand to become more active this year," Mr Setthapong said. The number of new franchise brands, both domestic and foreign, projected to launch in Thailand this year is 630, for growth of 10%.
Thailand's franchise business is estimated to be worth 250-300 billion baht per year.
The value remains far behind that of Thailand's retail market, which is estimated at 3.6 trillion baht, indicating huge opportunity for growth.