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Published on March 7, 2008

And next year, the company will expand its franchised restaurant

outlets to Cambodia and Vietnam.

Franchise department executive Choovej Inthep said the first take-home Chokdee Dimsum restaurant will be officially opened on April 1 at a PTT petrol station in Prachuap Khiri Khan.

"We plan to expand our Chokdee Dimsum restaurants at premium petrol stations which have a total land area of 10 rai and up. About 12 restaurant outlets will be opened at PTT petrol stations this year," said Choovej.

He said each restaurant, occupying a service space of 80 square metres with between 15 and 20 seats, will require an initial investment of between Bt2 million and Bt2.5 million. "The expansion of our restaurants will be under a strategic partnership with PTT and will be handled in many options. We can lease retail space in PTT petrol stations to open our own restaurants. PTT itself or their dealers can also buy our franchise licences to open the restaurants," said Choovej.

He added that each take-home restaurant outlet would take about two and a half years to break even.

Chokdee Dimsum was founded by Dheeraphop Siraprapathum when his cleaning business was shut down by the 1997 financial crisis.

Dheeraphop, now 44, went back to meet his relatives who ran the Chokdee Tae Tiam restaurant in Hat Yai where he learned how to make fresh steamed dim sum. He came back to Bangkok and opened his first Chokdee Dimsum restaurant on Bantadthong Road (Chulalongkorn Soi 12) in 1999. After joining a training course later organised by the Business Development Department, he learned that expanding the business through franchising would be the best alternative.

"Franchising will help us to expand our restaurant outlets more aggressively at less cost by allowing partnerships with individual investors who are interested to become our franchisees," said Choovej. He said that in 2002, the company started opening franchised restaurants at Worachak, Tapra and Srivara, together with its own restaurants at Soi St Louis, Ekamai and Lat Prao.

The company today operates 23 restaurants of which 14 are franchised outlets. It aims to have 50 restaurant outlets by 2012, including franchised stores.

"Our dim sum is made fresh by hand with love right here in our kitchen," Choovej said. "We have positioned ourselves as a casual restaurant or semi self-service. Successful restaurants should have sales of not less than Bt30,000 per day," said Choovej, adding that more than half of its restaurant outlets have daily sales of more than Bt30,000.

He said that interested investors would need a total investment budget of between Bt3 million and Bt3.5 million for opening a 120-square metre Chokdee Dimsum Restaurant with 40 to 60 seats. They will be required to pay Bt655,000 each as a franchise fee. They will have to pay Bt2 million for construction and infrastructure work as well as fixtures and decorations, plus Bt300,000 to Bt400,000 for the purchase of merchandise. Another Bt500,000 will be reserved as a cash flow budget.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation