Magazines Archives - 2010 January

Bangkok coffee chain steps up overseas expansion
Story 13 - Food Biz Area

Bangkok-based coffee and restaurant chain, Black Canyon (Thailand) Co Ltd, is set to expand its business overseas with plans to triple the number of its overseas outlets by 2014. The company’s
managing director, Pravit Chitnarapong, told local media that in order to ensure business continuity and minimise the impact of political dissension in the kingdom on its business, the chain plans to expand into six markets, namely Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and the UAE.

“We need to reach beyond Thailand because the economy here is not recovering very quickly.... In addition, the local interest rate is not that stable either,” Pravit said.

In line with this, the company has invested Bt12 million (US$361,553) on its first 150sqm outlet
in Shanghai, China, that is on track to open this April. Pravit maintained that because of its robust economic growth and strong currency, China presents “a huge opportunity” for the company,
which plans to penetrate the market this year.

“This will help speed up our overseas outlet expansion. It’s our shortcut to reach 100 outlets within the five-year period,” he revealed.

This year, the company plans to open three outlets in Indonesia and two in Malaysia. “The overseas market is different from the domestic one which has political instability, which reduces consumer confidence and purchasing power,” Pravit continued.

Despite this, the company continued to localise its brands and concepts to appeal to the domestic
market. “The economic downturn forces people to think more about value for money,” Pravit said. “Many customers switched from other brands to us. We opened 12 new branches [last] year and our expansion for [this] year will be similar with maybe two to three more branches,”

Last November, it unveiled its first standalone coffee house,called “Pai Now”, at the country’s popular tourist destination Pai, in Mae Hong Son, in order to appeal to the local community as well as reach out to more customers from a younger demographic.

“Pai Now by Black Canyon was recognised by local people and tourists within one week of opening, and that would not have happened if we had used the same approach as other Black Canyons,” Pravit concluded. The group has over 200 coffee houses in Thailand and over 30 overseas outlets

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