MK Restaurant Group plans to increase the size of its Yayoi Japanese restaurant chain to 300 outlets nationwide and double sales to 6 billion baht over the next 5-6 years.
The company plans to open 20-25 new Yayoi restaurants a year over the next 5-6 years, starting this year, said Somchai Hanjitkasem, chief operating officer for development, marketing and Japanese restaurant business.
The expansion plan will require an investment of 600-900 million baht, bringing the number of Yayoi restaurants to 300 by 2021-22, with sales doubling to 6 billion.
MK received the rights from the Japanese company to expand Yayoi in Thailand and Singapore for 11 years. Thailand was the first international market for Yayoi before it entered Singapore, Taiwan and the US.
Thailand is the world's largest market for Yayoi outside of Japan.
MK plans to spend 140-175 million baht this year to open 20-25 Yayoi restaurants, bringing the number of branches to 180-185 by year-end. Of the total, about 60% will be in Bangkok and the rest upcountry.
Sales of Yayoi restaurants in 2016 grew by 14% to 2.9 billion baht, slightly higher than earlier projected. The higher-than-expected growth came from the expansion of new restaurants to access a wider customer base, particularly in locations outside of the capital and in major tourist destinations.
Moreover, new promotional campaigns both helped increase return visits as well as attract new customers.
Mr Somchai said there is huge potential to grow Yayoi in Thailand as the chain controls less than 20% of Thailand's 20 billion-baht Japanese restaurant business.
According to a market survey carried out by the company, regular customers visit Yayoi restaurants two times per week. Even in the current economic climate, MK said Yayoi has potential to growth on account of what the company describes as affordable prices for young adults and small families.
To access more customers, MK is planning to develop a new, more bareboned Japanese restaurant concept which is priced lower than Yayoi.
The plan is intended to help the company get a faster return on investment and speed up the pace of expansion with the help of a wider customer base.
Apart from Thailand, the company also plans to open four Yayoi restaurants in Singapore this year, bringing the total to 13. The Singapore expansion this year will require an investment of over 8 million baht per restaurant.
Moreover, the company is conducting a feasibility study to open Yayoi restaurants in Vietnam.
With all these plans, the company expects its sales this year to reach 3.5 billion baht.