After making a splash with Krispy Kreme in Thailand, Ausanee Mahagitsiri will spend 100 million baht to expand her food business by adding two more bakery brands and opening new outlets next year.
KDN's Ms Ausanee presents Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.
Of the overall budget, the first 50 million baht will go to acquiring the two new brands and the rest for opening new outlets.
Ms Ausanee's KDN Co Ltd is in talks with four brands, mostly from the US, about bringing them to Thailand.
"We hope to settle two deals and open their outlets here next year," said Ms Ausanee, the company president.
KDN expects sales to reach 500 million baht after it secures additional food brands in 2015.
Earlier this year, the company obtained the rights to manage the Cinnabon bakery chain in Thailand, replacing the previous operator when its contract expired.
KDN set up a subsidiary called King on Cinnamon to handle the Cinnabon operation.
The Cinnabon chain gives KDN two food brands in the local market. When Krispy Kreme launched nearly four years ago, the American doughnuts became the talk of the town with long queues of Thai people at the first shop in Siam Paragon.
"We got the Cinnabon brand by accident," said Ms Ausanee, the daughter of Nescafe coffee tycoon Prayudh Mahagitsiri.
"We made a decision to be the franchisee of Cinnabon bakery because it's the favourite bakery of my second daughter and she eats a cinnamon roll every day."
When word came that the previous Cinnabon franchisee would cease operations, Ms Ausanee hastily requested details about the rights in Thailand.
The company spent more than 10 million baht to secure a 15-year contract for the existing Cinnabon assets and to run the chain.
Cinnabon has three shops in Bangkok: one each at Siam Paragon, The Mall Bangkapi and The Mall Bangkae.
KDN plans to open 10 more Cinnabon outlets in Bangkok and upcountry in the next five years.
During the past few months, KDN renovated the three existing Cinnabon outlets to look more modern.
The company slashed prices by 10% to make Cinnabon available to a wider customer base. In doing so, its sales rose by 30%.
Apart from Cinnabon, KDN anticipates opening three new Krispy Kreme doughnut branches next year, bringing the count to 20.
Plans also call for expanding KDN's factory and warehouse in Sukhumvit Soi 66 and fine-tuning the logistics system to support future business growth.
