We are very bullish on the Vietnam market place. Vietnam’s 95 million citizens are very young with over 60% of the people under the age of 30. In all of the countries we serve, younger consumers under the age of 30 greatly over index with our product. We expect the same in Vietnam. GDP growth rates continue to be one of the highest in the world, and more importantly, GDP/per capita growth rates are also growing rapidly. With large and established foreign franchise brands such as KFC, Lotteria, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Burger King, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, and many others in Vietnam already, we believe this is an ideal time to enter this market.Â
The reason we are targeting Vietnam is because consumers have already demonstrated an appetite for pizzas, and now it’s time to give the best-tasting pizza available. For Little Caesars, we believe that strong competition means that the markets have a high demand for our products. With brands such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and the Pizza Company already experiencing rapid growth in Vietnam, we believe consumers’ demand for pizzas will continue to grow as the younger generation becomes even more familiar with this type of international food. Pizza, as you know, is the second largest fast-food segment in the world after fried chicken.
Little Caesars is also quite unique when compared to other pizza brands as it has perfected the business model of take-away pizzas. These take-way units are significantly smaller than other pizza brands, and therefore have significantly lower rental costs, lower people costs, and no delivery costs since customers will come to pick up the pizzas. Just like some brands are changing consumer behaviour, Little Caesars has done that in more than 18 countries, and is currently the world’s third largest pizza chain in the world with over 5,000 units.
As mentioned earlier, the pizza industry is one of the largest growth opportunities globally. Technavio’s market research analyst predicts the global pizza market to grow at a steady cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of around 3% by 2020. We expect growth in Asia to be significantly higher than the global average due to the younger population and fast adoption rate of pizza consumption.
Little Caesars has presence in over 18 countries, and we believe Asia to be a key opportunity for our company’s growth. Please note that Little Caesars is the third largest pizza chain in the world, and we are just beginning to focus our efforts in Asia. We expect our entry into Asia and with the right franchisees to be rewarding for both franchisees and franchisor. Â
By Chung Nguyen