CPF (India) to build new chicken plant, expand Five Star outlets
As India experiences strong economic growth and rising spending power, Charoen Pokphand Foods (India) will invest Bt1 billion to expand its chicken-processing capacity and set up more Five Star chicken outlets next year.
Sanjeev Pant, senior vice president for food business of CPF (India), said the company had foreseen strong economic growth with more spending power in that country. Thus it will establish a new chicken plant in southern India. Initial investment capital for the plant and Five Star expansion will be Bt1 billion.
The new plant’s production line will boast "air-chill technology". It will be able to process about 20,000-30,000 chickens a day, a big boost from the capacity of its current plant, which can only handle about 6,000 birds a day. About 500 labourers will be employed for a two-shifts operation.
Pant said the higher production would support many sales channels including restaurants, hotels, modern trade, general traders, and its Five Star outlets.
The company plans to have as many as 500 Five Star chicken shops in India within three years, with most expansion in the south and west of the country. The firm has chosen to focus on southern states such as Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and major cities in that part of the country including Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi.
Currently, the company has 265 Five Star outlets in India. Of these, 90 per cent are operated under franchises, and the rest are owned by CPF (India).
The firm earned about US$300 million (Bt9.7 billion) in revenue from its livestock industry last year, including feed meal, farms, and Five Star chicken shops. In India, CPF earns revenue of about Bt7,000 per branch per day for each Five Star shop.
CPF also plans to establish more Five Star outlets in Vietnam, from 605 kiosks currently to 1,000-1,200 shops within three years.
