Franchise Brands Continue To Expand Internationally Despite Headwinds

By: Eddy Goldberg
Published: September 28th, 2022

September 2022… two and a half years into a business world forever changed by Covid. Yet, as we continue to note, global businesses have learned to adapt and continue to expand into new countries. This month our international deals roundup reports on international expansion by a Korean fried chicken brand, a Thailand coffee chain, two U.S. food brands, McDonald’s China’s first LEED-certified restaurant, and a U.S. car wash brand.

• BHC Chicken, South Korea’s second-largest chicken brand by sales, will open its third store in Malaysia in October as part of its Southeast Asia expansion strategy. The new restaurant, set to open in Kuala Lumpur, will be operated by a local logistics company under a master franchise agreement. Restaurant brands operated by BHC also include Korean barbecue franchise Chango 43 and Outback Steakhouse. The company is also the South Korean operator of San Francisco-based Super Duper Burgers, which is set to open its first Seoul store in October.

• Café Amazon has opened its first store in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh’s InterHealth Hospital. Thailand-based PTT Oil and Retail Business (PTTOR), which operates the coffee shop chain, said it is targeting expansion to 150 stores in Saudi Arabia by 2032. Founded in 2002, Café Amazon is Thailand’s largest branded coffee chain and operates more than 4,000 stores across Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. PTTOR said the brand’s launch in Saudi Arabia represents the first step to concretely restore diplomatic and trade relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

• Cinnabon, the U.S. cinnamon bun brand, is set to open its first store in Sydney, Australia. The brand has already opened five locations in Queensland and one in Victoria over the past 2 years in a licensing deal with Queensland import business Bansal Foods. The Sydney store will be in Darling Square. Future expansion plans across NSW call for 15 stores over the next 5 years.

• Dave and Buster’s, the U.S. food and entertainment brand, has announced it first multi-country, multi-unit deal. The partnership with the Abdul Mohsen Al Hokair Holding Group will begin with sites in Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE and Egypt. Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Coppell, Texas, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment is the owner and operator of 200 venues across two brands: 148 Dave & Buster’s and 52 Main Event locations that offer state-of-the-art bowling, laser tag, hundreds of arcade games, and virtual reality.

• Dunkin’, the U.S. coffee and baked goods brand with nearly 13,000 stores in 40 countries, has announced a new multi-unit license agreement for significant expansion across greater Mexico City. Moussali Group, an experienced restaurant and retail developer and operator, will operate the new restaurants, with the first locations set to open in late 2022.Franchisee Frederic Moussali is a successful QSR operator with more than 30 years in the industry. Most recently, he founded and scaled Moyo Frozen Yogurt to more than 200 locations across Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia. Previously, he led operations and development for Sushiito, a Mexican-Japanese fusion restaurant franchise with more than 250 locations across the U.S., Central America, and Europe.

• McDonald’s China recently opened its first zero-carbon restaurant in Beijing’s Shougang Park as part of its campaign to open more new green outlets in the country. Powered by onsite solar panels of more than 2,000 square meters, the new restaurant is a milestone for the company’s China unit to achieve net-zero carbon emission in the country by 2050. The Shougang Park restaurant is designed and constructed in line with LEED net-zero carbon and net-zero energy certification standards. There are about 5,000 McDonald restaurants in China.

• Tommy’s Express Car Wash, the U.S.-based car wash franchise, will break ground on its first international franchise location in Ontario, Canada in Q4 2022. The company exhibited at the Convenience U CARWACS Show that took place earlier this month at the Toronto Congress Centre in its ongoing effort to further expand into Canada. Tommy Car Wash Systems provides modular building designs, stainless steel car wash equipment, and high-performance wash detergents as part of its franchise offering.

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