Magazines Archives - 2009 June

Wendy’s takes a bite of Singapore via Kopitiam
Story 13 - Food Business Asia

ATLANTA-BASED Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc has entered into a franchise agreement with Singapore’s Kopitiam Group to roll out Wendy’s restaurants across the city-state. The first outlet is slated to open later this year.

“This is a great opportunity to further grow our Wendy’s brand in Asia where we currently have 150 franchised restaurants,” Jim Hartenstein, senior vice-president, International, Wendy’s/ Arby’s Group, said. “We are pleased to enter a franchise relationship with Kopitiam Group, a company that is well known in Singapore.”

Expressing his confidence in Kopitiam’s management, Hartenstein stated that both the Singapore company’s chairman and managing director have “tremendous experience developing and operating successful food-service brands”.

The inclusion of the Wendy’s brand in Kopitiam’s Singapore portfolio is a “strategic move that we’ve planned for some time”, said Lim Bee Huat, chairman of Kopitiam, which manages several local brands of F&B operations, including the Kopitiam food-court group, The Dessert Shop, halal foodcourt chain Banquet and Bao Luo Wan Xiang dim sum restaurant.

“The addition of Wendy’s quality brand will complement the wide range of food businesses that we currently have in Singapore,” Lim affirmed.

Alden Tan, Kopitiam’s managing director, added: “We see an opportunity in the Singapore market for growth and continued demand for premium products and services at affordable prices. We believe Wendy’s signature menu and excellent value will strongly appeal to consumers.”

Currently, the group operates six international franchise businesses in the Asia-Pacific region, and across 20 markets outside the US and Canada. As franchisees are not controlled directly by the group, new restaurant openings are subject to the discretion of the franchisees. However, the group plans to open 35 restaurants in Singapore by 2019.

To view other stories, get a copy of Retail Asia. To subscribe, please download the subscription form from http://www.retailasiaonline.com/subscription.html