FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

  PH Capital readies Bt1-billion expansion for 200 Pizza Hut outlets in 4 years 

  PH Capital readies Bt1-billion expansion for 200 Pizza Hut outlets in 4 years 

PH CAPITAL yesterday announced an investment of more than Bt1 billion to double the size of Pizza Hut business in Thailand both in number of restaurants and staff in the next three to four years.

Ausana Mahagitsiri, director of PH Capital, said that the company acquired the franchise right of Pizza Hut in Thailand from Yum! Brands in June this year, including a complete transfer of 92 Pizza Hut restaurants and more than 2,000 staff. The move allows PH Capital to be the sole franchisee of Pizza Hut in Thailand.
PH Capital is a joint venture between Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc (TTA), which holds 70 per cent, and PM Capital, a company run by the Mahagitsiri family with extensive expertise and experience in management of global food and beverage brands.
“Our Mahagitsiri family and Yum! Brands share the same vision, which is to invest, expand and grow the business for the long term,” said Ausana.
“We will increase the number of Pizza Hut restaurants to 108 by the end of December this year and to increase total number of staff to about 3,000. About new 30 Pizza Hut restaurants will be opened next year,” she said.
She added that between 12 and 15 Pizza Hut restaurants had been opened in various locations this year including Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Chanthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Mahasarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Surat Thani, Petchaburi, and Phichit.
“We expect the total number of Pizza Hut restaurants in Thailand to reach 200 within the next three to four years, at a total investment of more than Bt1 billion,” said Ausana.
“We also expect to more than double our annual revenue within the next three to four years,” she said.
Ausana said that the company bought the franchise right of Pizza Hut from Yum! Brands as it believed in the growth potential of Pizza Hut business, especially in upcountry.
“About 80 per cent of Pizza Hut restaurants are located in Bangkok and 20 per cent upcountry. We have seen great potential in Pizza Hut restaurants spreading to other tourist destinations in the country. Our dream is to provide consumers living in all provinces the opportunity to try Pizza Hut,” said Ausana, adding that the company is in the process of sourcing new locations upcountry for future expansion of Pizza Hut restaurants.
She said that there are few major players in the pizza market in Thailand.
“Thailand’s quick-service restaurant (QSR) market also enjoys a growth of between 2 per cent and 4 per cent this year. However, our pizza business is doing quite well when compared with the total QSR market,” said Ausana.
Ausana said the company would renovate one-third of its existing Pizza Hut restaurants to catch yp with the trends. 
“Pizza Hut was the first American pizza brand entering into the Thai market with families as its core customers at the moment. We would like to expand Pizza Hut’s customer base to more young people,” she said.
She added that the strength of Yum! Brand is the sharing of research and development information and know-how from many markets around the world.
“Pizza Hut restaurants are available in 16 different markets in Asia and every countries have initiated their own pizza products and to be explored by the others. We have sourced the best pizza ingredients from many countries around the world,” said Usana, giving the example of cheese, which was sourced from New Zealand, the world’s best cheese producer.
 

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