Minor Food Group Plc, the operator of The Pizza Company brand, looks set to beef up its delivery and takeaway services to cash in on growth trends.
Patt Pongwittayapipat, general manager of The Pizza Company and food delivery (1112 Delivery) under the Minor Food Group, said the company will put more focus on expanding its business via delivery and takeaway, following the trend within Asia, where the popularity of takeaways and delivery platforms has continued to grow for several years. The pandemic accelerated this behaviour, he said.
"Over 80% of food sales in India and Australia are generated from takeaway and delivery platforms. Minor Food is also riding such a trend. Our sales portion from delivery and takeaway has increased to 61%, up from 45-48% before the pandemic,'' Mr Patt said.
According to Mr Patt, the pandemic accelerated the delivery and takeaway trend, shifting consumers from dining-in to eating at home. After the easing of the pandemic, consumer behaviour has also shifted again towards value, convenience and experience, he said.
The company is scheduled to launch today a "Best Price Guarantee" campaign for customers of Minor Food's seven renowned brands on the 1112 Delivery app, or website www.1112delivery.com.
The brands are The Pizza Company, Bon Chon, Sizzler, Burger King, The Coffee Club, Swensen's and Dairy Queen.
The company will add affiliate brands including S&P, Urban Pizza, BreadTalk, Song Fa, Sergeant Kitchen and Esan Zaap Zaa to the campaign in the subsequent phase.
Currently, there are 421 The Pizza Company restaurants in 75 provinces. The company opened five new The Pizza Company restaurants in the first eight months of this year and expects the total number of The Pizza Company outlets to reach 430 by the end of this year.
Under the campaign running between Sept 6 and Oct 5, if the same food item from the seven Minor Food brands and partners is discovered on another platform offering a lower price, customers can get a special discount of 100 baht for the next delivery using 1112 Delivery.
The campaign aims to expand its customer base to encompass young people, working people and families and other segments as well as boosting sales from its delivery platform by 30% to 1.3 billion baht this year.
The 1112 Delivery business saw continuous growth of 178% in 2020, 56% in 2022 and 50% in 2023 by adding affiliate brands that are leading in cuisine type and full coverage service area.
Thailand's delivery business is worth about 79 billion baht in 2022, up from 48 billion baht before the pandemic.
According to Mr Patt, the Best Price Guarantee campaign will enable the 1112 Delivery platform to grow stronger and increase ordering frequency by 2-4 times within three months. Currently, customers have downloaded the 1112 app 2.5 million times, up from one million in 2019.
"We are also looking for new business opportunities through business partnerships to strengthen our 1112 delivery platform,'' Mr Patt said.
Currently, the company manages over 5,000 professional drivers who provide food delivery in 75 provinces. Half are operated by the company while the rest belong to partners.