Auntie Anne's eyes VN through Central
Auntie Anne’s yesterday announced a rebranding campaign in Thailand, following similar ones in the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines and the UK.
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Auntie Anne's, the US-based franchiser of Auntie Anne's pretzel outlets, plans to provide a master licence to Thailand's Central Restaurants Group to open Auntie Anne's bakery outlets in Vietnam.
The Central Restaurants Group, a quick-service restaurant unit of the Central Group, has been the licensed operator of Auntie Anne's outlets in Thailand for almost nine years. The company has 83 Auntie Anne's bakery outlets in Thailand, and another 10 will open this year. The move into Vietnam follows plans by the Central Group to open a retail complex there this year or next. The Central Restaurants Group plans to spend almost Bt400 million this year to expand the number of outlets for all of its licensed quick-service restaurants, including KFC, Pizza Hut, Auntie Anne's, Baskin-Robbins and Mister Donut. The group currently operates 463 quick-service restaurants under those brands, and 32 new outlets will open this year. The group also plans to launch a new brand of "heavy meal" restaurant in Thailand this year. Auntie Anne's yesterday announced a rebranding campaign in Thailand, following similar campaigns in the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines and the UK. The campaign involves a new brand identity aimed at attracting new customers for its pretzel products. About Bt40 million will be spent on the rebranding campaign and opening new Auntie Anne's outlets in Thailand this year. "The Central Restaurants Group is our best performer and making Thailand the world's fastest-growing market, with an annual growth rate of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent," said Lusia Redompta, Auntie Anne's senior international operations consultant in Singapore. "In addition to Vietnam, we're very close to signing deals with local licensees in China and India. The agreements will hopefully be made this year," said Redompta, adding that Auntie Anne's currently had local franchisees in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Michael McCoy, Auntie Anne's director of franchise development and international operations, said Asia contributed 10-12 per cent to Auntie Anne's international business outside the US. The region also enjoys the fastest growth rate, 25-30 per cent in normal years - much higher than in the US, which records annual growth of 7-8 per cent. The company currently operates 750 Auntie Anne's outlets in the US. "We expect to double the number of franchised outlets in Asia over the next three years," said McCoy, adding that 20-40 new franchised outlets would open in Asia this year. McCoy said that as well as Asia, Auntie Anne's was focusing on expanding its franchised outlets in Central America. The company currently has 930 franchised Auntie Anne's restaurants in 12 different markets around the world, including 150 in nine different Asian countries and territories. Auntie Anne's recorded total global sales of US$300 million (Bt10.48 billion) last year.
Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn The Nation
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