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Published on August 30, 2007

I was in an elevator at CentralWorld, wondering how I would find the Seefah Restaurant. I flipped open the mobile and called one of the restaurant's public-relations staff for directions. Then a man standing next to me, who was clearly pushing 60 years of age, overheard the conversation and offered to take me there, saying he often ate at the place himself.

The incident underlined the wide popularity of a restaurant that has been operating in Bangkok for an amazing 71 years.

Seefah's image stems from its successful food flavours and a brand-building strategy that is as old as the restaurant itself. Its slogan - "Think of Seefah when you're hungry" - is one of those simple lines that stick in your mind. The whole thing started in 1936 when its founder, Pleng Rachjaibun, opened a small shop selling coffee, ice cream and fruit near Chinatown on Ratchawong Road.

The business is now in the hands of the third generation of the Rachjaibun family. The original Seefah Restaurant still serves its Chinese and Thai cuisine, but the business has expanded into different concepts and brands. These include Blue Spice by Seefah, which offers multiple-menu services; Blulite Thaispice, which focuses on take-home Thai dishes; the I'm Thai Noodle Bar, a noodle shop with a variety of tastes; Seefah Patisseries, a bakery corner inside Seefah Restaurants; and Seefah Catering, servicing buffets, cocktail parties, suppers and coffee breaks.

These businesses contribute combined revenues of more than Bt200 million a year and employ a staff of 1,000.

It's little known that the Rachjaibun family has another core business, Dhanasiri Diesel, which sells machine parts, engines and services. But here and now, we're interested in Seefah and the food businesses it has spawned.

Having a variety of brands with different concepts has encouraged the group to capture a wider range of customers. Korn Rachjaibun, kitchen manager for the Seefah Group, says the group intends to grow in each segment of its food operations. In addition, the original Seefah Restaurant wants to be acknowledged as reflecting the gastronomic tastes of Bangkokians.

Although he earned a degree in interior design from the Faculty of Architecture at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang, Korn realised it was his responsibility to carry on the family's business. Thus, he continued his studies at the Culinary Institute of America, where he took a two-year food course followed by a year of training in restaurants and hotels in the US. As well as polishing his cooking skills, he learned restaurant management, including storekeeping, making menus, purchasing and services.

Korn was not the only Rachjaibun to seek prestigious international training to prepare for the family business. For instance, Korn's aunt took a hotel-management course at one of the most respected hospitality-industry universities in Switzerland, and his older sister took an ice-cream short course at Pennsylvania State University.

For Korn, 31, training in the US gave him a better understanding of basic food.

"I knew nothing about food, but studying and training in the US allowed me to have more experience and to compare what I was learning with Thai dishes," he says, adding that food is a little like architectural science, in that everything begins with basic thinking.

Returning from the US in 2005, Korn took responsibility for Seefah's sub-brands, such as blueSpice by Seefah, focusing mainly on the companies' operations.

Having graduated in interior design, Korn not only handles the group's kitchen operations, its stores and its brand image, but he is also a key man in setting up Seefah's new shop concept design, renovating the restaurants to match the new image. He prefers a design that is a combination of the old Seefah decor and modern styling.

"The most important character of Seefah is the blue colour in each shop," he says, adding that the rest of the decor depends on the customer group in targeted locations.

Concentrating on cost management, Korn has reduced the total number of menu items offered by Seefah from 500 to 200. He says those remaining have survived the changing behaviour of consumers and the cuts he made to reduce unnecessarily high costs of raw materials.

As well, Seefah has set up a central catering system to supply raw materials to all of its shops around Bangkok, allowing the group to control both the quality of raw materials and taste standards.

Korn plans to boost sales at all of Seefah's brands, in order to enable total sales growth to surpass 3-5 per cent annually.

The group has also begun marketing finished products under its own brand name. Market testing is presently gathering consumer feedback. A successful outcome will encourage the group's plans to move into exporting within the next five years.

Korn accepts that Seefah faces many challenges. The group's sales have fallen recently, because of the country's economic circumstances. Moreover, consumers have lately focused more on food decoration, the environment and food quality. In addition, many new shops have been opened around Bangkok, creating more choices for consumers.

However, he says Seefah will continue to operate according to its business principle of maintaining food quality and taste under a theme of "Good eating always".

Achara Pongvutitham

 The Nation