Central Restaurants Group (CRG), the operator of KFC, has rolled out two new store models to increase sales opportunities and cater to customers' varying lifestyles.
Piyapong Chitchumnong, CRG's head of QSR & Western Cuisine and an executive of KFC under the operation of Central Restaurants Group Co, said the company recently launched the new store models -- one through a collaboration with Arigato, a Japanese café under the operation of CRG, and another developed independently.
The company this year launched the collaborative "KFC Café by Arigato" in August and introduced its own "KFC Chick n' Chill" concept for the first time in October at the Central Sri Racha complex.
"KFC Café by Arigato is a café concept, selling more beverage menus of Arigato, a beverage chain from Japan. This model will create new business opportunities for mutual growth and resilience, and incremental sales of KFC, which normally has peak sales around lunch and dinner," he said. "It will also increase the reachability of the Arigato brand to Thai customers. The number of KFC Café by Arigato branches is expected to reach 220 this year."
Currently, there are 900 KFC branches across the country. Of the total, 300 are operated by CRG, with the remaining 600 handled by two other operators.
Mr Piyapong said each KFC Chick n' Chill concept store will be a KFC store that is designed to match the culture and lifestyles of consumers at each location.
"2021 has been a tough year for the overall restaurant business because of the impact of the pandemic," he said. "Consumers have shifted to place more food orders via online delivery. Some opt to cook at home to reduce their expenses. We have to draw them back to stores with new product offerings and new models to reach them more easily."
Despite the prolonged pandemic, Mr Piyapong said CRG remains committed to continuing to open new stores.
It plans to spend 300 million baht to open 30 new restaurants next year either at shopping complexes, petrol stations or stand-alone outlets. It will also renovate 10 existing KFC stores, 4-5 of which will be developed under the Chick n' Chill concept. Under the plan, the total number of KFC outlets operated by CRG is expected to reach 332 in 2022.
"With the impact of Covid-19, we have come up with flexible models to serve customers via all channels. Now, all KFCs under CRG provide delivery services which brought about a jump in sales growth during the pandemic and continue to grow," Mr Piyapong said.
Sales from deliveries now make up for 30% of KFC's total sales, up from 10% before the pandemic.
Mr Piyapong said the firm aimed to open 22 new KFC new stores this year, bringing the total to 302. Of these, 20 have already opened.
Prior to the pandemic, Thailand's fried-chicken market was valued at about 20 billion baht with an annual average growth of 8%.
With the government's tightened restriction measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, the market contracted by 15% in 2020 with the same rate of contraction expected for this year.
"We expect the market will gradually recover next year," Mr Piyapong said.