Black Canyon targets Indian market
Black Canyon (Thailand) managing director Pravit Chitnarapong, centre, and staff attend the company’s new branch in The Esplanade shopping complex on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok yesterday. Black Canyon has spent Bt25 million on the branch, which is dec
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Black Canyon (Thailand) expects to expand into India early next year with its Black Canyon coffee-shop brand.
Managing director Pravit Chitnarapong yesterday said the restaurant chain expected to start with at least one branch in Bombay. The company is negotiating with a Thai investor holding Indian citizenship who is interested in buying a franchise licence. Marketing manager Kannika Chinprasithchai said the operator was expected to help Black Canyon further develop the market there. It's also considering the best market positioning for its brand. She said start-up costs for the first Indian branch would total at least Bt10 million, including expenses for legal procedures. Pravit called Bombay a promising market with lots of coffee shops but only a few international brands like Coffee World. More than 10 shopping malls are under construction in the city, some purported to be the biggest ones in India. That means Black Canyon would have many good sites from which to select. Bombay presents one big challenge in the large number of residents who are vegetarians. This will require the company to have three different menus, offering Thai, beef and vegetarian dishes. It also expects the branch to offer cooking classes. Black Canyon has 20 branches in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, the United Arab Emirates and Cambodia in addition to its 160 domestic units. The latest local branch was opened recently in Bangkok's Esplanade lifestyle shopping mall, occupying 200 square meters. This year, the company plans to spend Bt60 million to open 10 Black Canyons and two branches of its new, trendy concept, Caffe Nero, in the Kingdom. Pravit estimates that the domestic coffee-shop market this year will grow only 5 per cent - slower than the usual 15 to 20 per cent - because it has already reached the saturation point. Not many new coffee shops have appeared so far, and the ones that have do not have very many attractive points, he said. However, he remains optimistic that consumer spending this year will recover to a satisfactory level by mid-year, due to the improving economic and political outlook. Black Canyon has delayed its initial public offering, because interest rates on bank loans remain affordable, and the Market for Alternative Investment under the Stock Exchange of Thailand has not been performing very well.
Nitida Asawanipont
The Nation
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