(VEN) – 2013 could be a boom year for franchising of major brands entering and expanding business in Vietnamese market.
The opening ceremony of Starbucks Coffee in Ho Chi Minh City
In early February, 2013, Starbucks Coffee (the US) officially opened its first store in Vietnam at the New World Hotel in HCMC. Vietnam became the twelve markets of Starbucks in the Asia-Pacific region. Starbucks selected the Hong Kong Maxim’s Group as a franchise unit in Vietnam. Starbucks Coffee China and Asia-Pacific President John Culver said that the company is looking for spaces to open more stores in big cities in the near future. According to President John Culver, Vietnam is a major coffee exporter in the world and Starbucks respect for the coffee drinking custom of Vietnamese people. Therefore, Starbucks localized its first store to become the third venue for local consumers behind their home and workplace.
Burger King has also continuously opened a series of stores in three major cities of Vietnam, including HCMC, Hanoi and Da Nang. Burger King chose the Blue Kite Food & Beverage Co, Ltd, a subsidiary of the Imex Pan Pacific (IPP) Group as a franchise unit in Vietnam. In addition, Subway is also looking forward to open the tenth restaurants in HCMC in 2013 and looking for suitable locations to open restaurants in other cities throughout the country.
Other brands, such as KFC, Lotteria and Trung Nguyen also accelerate the replication of stores throughout the country and selected 2013 as a boom year for franchising. Lotteria and KFC opened its first store in 1998 and they have also prepared to cope with other brands. Lotteria achieved the goal of expanding stores to 140 points in many beautiful locations in the commercial centers in big cities. In particular, KFC had 116 stores in the end of 2012 and most of them are located in the busy intersections in the central areas. Jollibee with 25 stores is looking for retail spaces to open more stores.
According to results of a recent survey of FTA Market Research & Consultant, franchising strongly develops in 2013, especially in the fields of fast food and consumer goods. FTA Managing Director Tran Ngoc Dung said that due to international integration factor, young consumers are ready to welcome new brands from abroad into Vietnam.
Despite facing difficulties in Vietnam’s macro economy, the franchise sector promises a strong growth. When the global economy falls into crisis, private investors are likely to invest in the franchise as a safe investment channel. However, franchise trend and development strategy are changing around the world and Vietnamese market has no exception. Many successful brands have speeded up the replication of stores. These brands will find out and select partners with strong financial ability. In particular, some big brands have constructed the store system in a certain time and implemented refranchise method. Its method will become popular for emerging markets, such as China, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The retail sector remained high growth in 2012. The Pathfinder Managing Director Tran Anh Tuan said that cuisine, fashion, consumer goods and education are fields to promote the development of the franchise in 2013. These fields have many opportunities to develop and foreign investors will speed up the development of the franchise./.
By Anh Thanh