Little Caesar Enterprises Inc, the third-largest pizza chain in the US, remains committed to looking for local franchisees to operate its stores in Asean, particularly in Thailand, despite market dominance by leading brands.
Bill Schreiber, vice-president of international development for the Michigan-based firm, told the Bangkok Post during a recent visit to Thailand that the company has been preparing itself for eight months and is now ready to penetrate the Asean pizza market this year.
The company has a strong foothold in several countries, including the US, Mexico and Canada.
Little Caesars plans to expand its business pipeline over the next five years to Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia.
“We are interested in expanding our business in Asean because of the region’s sheer size,” Mr Schreiber said. “Asean is the world’s second-largest pizza market and has a growing middle-income base.
“More importantly, Asean people are well-versed in choosing and consuming quality products at good prices. We hope Little Caesars in Asean will snatch a bigger portion of the international market over the next five years.”
He said the pizza business in the US is experiencing minor growth, prompting the company to put more focus on expanding its business in Asean.
“The pizza market in Asean has continued expanding over the past several years and is expected to grow by at least 5% a year for the next five years because of the expansion of middle-income earners,” Mr Schreiber said.
Little Caesars was founded in 1959 and is based in Detroit, Michigan. It operates and franchises pizza restaurants in the US and internationally in the Middle East, Australia, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Little Caesars has expanded its business to 23 countries.
The company plans to open the first Little Caesars restaurant in Asean this year and a branch in Europe. The company charges UScopy00,000 (3.1 million baht) for those who want to become franchisees on a 20-year contract basis.
“We aim to double the size of Little Caesars in Asean over the next five years,” Mr Schreiber said. “Thailand is one of our strategic countries because Thai people have long been familiar with pizza and consume a lot of it. Therefore, the country has tremendous growth potential [for our brand].”
He said the company is seeking out local investors who have a passion for the pizza business, or have experience in the retail and food sectors, to become local franchisees.
“Though we are the new pizza player in Thailand, we believe that if Thais try our products, they will love Little Caesars because of its value for money,” Mr Schreiber said. “It is simple, convenient and affordable, being 20% cheaper than our competitors.”
The competition in Thailand’s pizza market continues to heat up, with more players, both local and international, angling to set up shop.
The Thai market is dominated by cash-rich companies such as The Pizza Company, owned by Minor Group (a fast-food, hotels and lifestyle-products conglomerate), the Domino’s Pizza brand under the management of Evolution Capital Plc, and the Pizza Hut brand.
PH Capital, which is owned by the Mahagitsiri family, last year secured franchise rights from Yum Restaurants International Thailand to operate Pizza Hut in Thailand for 10 years.
Source Bangkok Post
