Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Dunkin' Donuts plans to share Thai success story

The Thai operation of Dunkin' Donuts is ready to share its best business practices with other countries in the US company's global network.

"Thailand is a role model for innovative doughnut development. Many people are interested in what Dunkin' Donuts Thailand has done from attractive products to store designs," said Tony Pavese, chief operating officer of Dunkin' Donuts worldwide.

He made the comment during a visit to Bangkok this week to attend the global meeting of more than 100 partners from 31 countries.

Nadim Salhani, managing director of Golden Donuts, the US chain's master franchisee in Thailand, said staff of Dunkin' Donuts Thailand including chefs had been sent to share their tips for making Thai-designed doughnuts in many countries including Spain, German, Taiwan, Russia and Dubai.

"Though new doughnut brands are entering the market, Dunkin' Donuts has been able to maintain its competitiveness because of a strong brand and unique products," he said.

Golden Donuts will continue to expand this year with 15-20 new outlets to be opened, bringing the total to between 215 and 220 by the year-end.

Last year, the brand recorded a 15% rise in sales and it expects 20% growth this year. About 10% of sales come from coffee but the company expects the proportion will rise to 30% over the next five years.

Mr Pavese said Asia was very significant for Dunkin' Donuts. Of its 9,700 stores worldwide, 6,700 stores are in the United States and 3,000 in international markets, including 2,000 in Asia.

"We see Asia as the key market for Dunkin worldwide. We will open a significant number of new stores and focus on quality development in this region," he added.

Though the number of Dunkin' Donuts stores in Thailand is not big, it is the most creative country in terms of store design and product development.

Mr Salhani said the company's operating costs had risen by 10% because of increasing prices of coffee, wheat flour and chocolate. The shortage of palm and soybean oil has also forced it to change its raw material orders to one year in advance from every quarter in the past.

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