Oishi Group Plc, the country’s biggest green tea maker and Japanese restaurant chain, plans to spend 400 million baht to add 30 new outlets next year.
Of the total, 15 will be Shabushi outlets with the rest Oishi Ramen, Oishi Japanese Buffet Restaurant or Nikuya.
Paisarn Aowsathaporn, Oishi’s executive vice-president for food, said the expansion would create about 1,500 new jobs and drive an increase in 2012 sales of 20-25%, up from an estimated 4 billion baht this year.
Oishi opened 24 eateries this year.
Flooding forced the closure of 23 outlets and cut delivery of dumplings and sandwiches to 7-Eleven stores.
During the floods, Oishi lost 200-300 million baht in assets, and up to 400 million baht in opportunity loss, he said.
Several Japanese restaurant chains shut down because their central kitchens were in inundated industrial estates.
With the water now receding, Mr Paisarn expressed confidence the overall Japanese restaurant business would return to normal early next year after an expected 10-15% contraction this year.
Oishi is scheduled to resume operations at its plant in Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya during the first quarter of next year.
A company source said the group was considering seeking a subcontractor either locally or overseas to help produce green tea during the refit of the Nava Nakorn site.
The production site at Amata Nakorn in Chon Buri can supply only half the total green tea output.
Oishi’s central restaurant kitchen hopes to restart sometime over the next six months. Each branch now prepares its own raw materials on site.
To reduce business risk in future, the company will adjust strategy by increasing the number of suppliers.
Oishi is planning a 20 million baht marketing campaign to revive sales in December, offsetting flood decreases.
Oishi Group expects sales to reach 10 billion baht this year.
Shares of Oishi Group closed unchanged on the SET yesterday at 64 baht in trade worth 4.9 million.
Source: Bangkok Post
