MANILA, Philippines – The group that brought the popular Singaporean chain BreadTalk in the country is also bringing Korean fried chicken restaurant chain Kyochon here.
In a briefing on Friday in Makati, businessman Wilson Chu said Kyochon will initally open nine stores in the Philippines and its first store will be located somewhere in Greenbelt in Makati. Target opening of the first store is December.
Besides BreadTalk, Chu’s group was responsible for bringing ToastBox Philippines, Banana Leaf Curry House Inc., Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen Philippines and Chops Chicago Steak House Inc. Chu’s group meanwhile also brought Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to the country through a joint venture with a partner. It also operates No. 8 Chinese Bistro, Royal Sporting House, and Academy of Rock Inc.
Kyochon operates 950 stores in South Korea and has expanded to the US and other countries in Asia such as China, Thailand and Indonesia. Restaurants in Camboadia, Myanmar and Laos will also be opened.
By 2020, the restaurant is tageting to have 10,000 stores worldwide.
“You can say we are a little ambitious,” Chu said of the restaurant’s plan to become the number one fried chicken restaurant in the country.
Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
Chu added that their offering would be priced a little higher than BonChon, the first Korean fried chicken restaurant in the Philippines.
He cited their experience when they brought in CBTL to the Philippines and priced their coffee at P5 higher per cup than those sold by Starbucks.
“When we started, Coffee Bean was in sixth place and now we’re second. I am confident that the taste of our coffee merits the higher price. Same with Kyochon, we offer six flavors, Jollibee and BonChon both have two flavors of chicken,” he added.
He added that every Kyochon restaurant would employ about 15 staff members.
Since the Philippines “is a mall country”, all restaurants of Kyochon will be located in a mall.
The group has also revealed that besides more fried chicken flavors, Kyochon fried chicken are healthy because they use less salt and no monosodium glutamate.
Chu said the group is targeting to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange three years from now. At the moment, the group’s falgship concept is BreadTalk.
