Green Food Factory Co, the operator of Salad Factory restaurants, plans to expand its business at a faster pace in 2022 than last year despite the persistent pandemic.
Chief executive Piya Dankum said the company wants to open 12-15 new Salad Factory restaurants this year, up from six last year.
The expansion plan aims for at least 30 total eateries by year-end, he said.
Green Food Factory is a joint venture between Salad Factory and Central Restaurants Group (CRG), which hold 49% and 51% shares, respectively.
"Although the pandemic is here to stay, we are all set to ramp up our business this year because Salad Factory provides food that is trending, responding to the increase in health-conscious consumers," Mr Piya said.
In 2019, Salad Factory served customers only via a full restaurant concept.
Following the Covid-19 outbreaks, the company shifted to three restaurant models to help grow its business. They comprise a mini-restaurant spanning 50 square metres, a hybrid concept covering 90 sq m and a fresh and easy Salad Factory concept.
"The mini and hybrid Salad Factory concepts helped to grow our sales despite the heavy impact from the pandemic last year," he said.
As a consequence, Mr Piya said the majority of new Salad Factory restaurants to open this year will be geared towards the mini and hybrid concepts.
The company plans to open 6-7 new mini Salad Factory restaurants at petrol stations and community areas, with the remainder using other restaurant models.
"Mini Salad Factory has been instrumental in helping our business continue growing despite the Covid-19 outbreaks, mainly because of its lower operating costs and investment requirement," he said.
"The investment is three times lower than that for a full service restaurant."
Mr Piya said both the new mini and hybrid Salad Factory restaurants will be located in areas that can provide delivery service, reducing business risk if more outbreaks materialise and tougher restrictions are reinstated.
Apart from the restaurant expansion plan, the company teamed up with Meat Avatar Co, a manufacturer of plant-based meat, to co-develop plant-based salad dressing to cash in on the increasing popularity of plant-based products.
The salad dressing products are available at all 20 Salad Factory restaurants and are slated for sale via the modern trade channel next month.
According to Mr Piya, Green Food Factory expects its sales this year to double to 500 million baht.
Wiphu Lertsurapibul, chief executive of Meat Avatar, said the market for meat-free and vegetarian products has existed in Thailand for 20-30 years, with sales during the popular Vegetarian Festival worth about 45 billion baht in 2018.
This market has an average growth of 2-3% per year, he said.
"The younger generation, comprising Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z, are health-conscious and environmentally aware," said Mr Wiphu.
"They want convenience in terms of consumption and product choices. This provides an opportunity to develop products as alternatives for consumers, combining the strong points of the two brands."