The Thai operation of Dunkin' Donuts vows to ramp up its expansion next year, planning to spend 60 million baht to open 40-60 new branches, up from 30 this year.
Pakin Phenpakkul, managing director of Golden Donuts Thailand Co, the operator of Dunkin' in Thailand, said that although Dunkin' has been registered in Thailand for four decades, it still has room to expand because its business covers only 60 provinces across the country.
Some provinces can support 4-5 new branches, he said.
Mr Pakin said the company remains committed to continuing investment to open 30 new Dunkin' branches this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic that affected sales.
"The Covid-19 outbreak forced our team to invent new strategies to move on with business amid the difficult time," he said.
There are 293 Dunkin' original stores.
The company developed new Dunkin' store formats that fit new customer expectations such as kiosks and food trucks.
Mr Pakin said the company started developing its first Dunkin' food truck at the end of 2019 as a prototype to reach customers after the outbreak was first reported in foreign countries.
It has four Dunkin' food trucks operating in high-traffic areas such as an Esso petrol station in Rangsit.
It opened a Dunkin' kiosk in a community in June. It now has six Dunkin' kiosks, with four more scheduled to open in the remaining three months, bringing total Dunkin' kiosks to reach 10 this year.
He said three new Dunkin' branches under the original format will be opened this month, but their sizes will be scaled down to 15-30 square metres, compared with 100 sq m in the past few years, to control costs and reduce business risk.
"Dunkin' kiosks got a good response from customers," Mr Pakin said. "Sales via kiosks are over one time higher than regular stores located in retail complexes."
In addition to expanding its distribution channel, the company will also put more effort into a marketing campaign and develop innovative products both on a horizontal and vertical basis to spur spending power and maintain customer loyalty amid fierce competition.
Raweepan Prakobwanakit, vice-president for marketing, said the company launched two products like Dunkin' Candy Crack, a crispy doughnut collection, the first of its kind in Thailand.
It hired Vachirawit "Bright" Chivaaree and Metawin "Win" Opas-iamkajorn from 2gether The Series to promote the new Dunkin' to young customers.
Thailand's doughnut market averaged 3.5-4 billion baht a year in the past few years.
The figures are expected to stay at about 3 billion baht this year with two major brands, Mister Donut and Dunkin', dominating the market.