President Chain Store Corp (
Unlike the Starbucks brand that President Chain has obtained the right to develop only in eastern China, the Taiwanese firm now hold the license for Cold Stone Creamery in all of China.
The new entity will be 100 percent invested by President Chain while the US company will provide operational know-how during the 30-year contract term.
The subsidiary in Taiwan, with an initial capital of NT$100 million (US$3 million), will be led by James Hsieh (謝健南), President Chain's vice president. Operations in China, capitalized at 65 million Chinese yuan (US$8.3 million), will be headed by Louis Chang Jen (張簡雲輝), another President Chain vice president.
"Cold Stone Creamery's ice cream is delicious, and they're famous for creating a happy atmosphere in the store. We're very happy to introduce this brand and hope to open the first outlets in Taipei and Shanghai by next April," said Hsu Chung-jen (徐重仁), president of President Chain, during yesterday's contract-signing ceremony.
The firm plans to open 60 outlets in this country and 105 in China within the next seven years. Cold Stone Creamery moved into Japan late last year, its first foray into Asia, and into South Korea in July.
Despite its heavy investment, President Chain is confident it will break even in the third year, considering consumers' growing appetite for sophisticated sweets, Hsieh said, adding that the stores will be located in department stores, shopping malls or as independent outlets.
Asked why it chose a Taiwanese partner to market the brand on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Cold Stone Creamery senior vice president Lee Knowlton said they liked President Chain's consistency and its successful track record in retailing as well as food and beverages.
In addition to Starbucks and 7-Eleven, President Chain has introduced Mister Donut, the Japanese lifestyle brand MUJI and Duskin into the local market.
"We think now it is a perfect time to introduce Cold Stone Creamery here, as Taiwan's economy is robust and China is going to host the Olympics Games in 2008," Knowlton said, adding that negotiations had taken two years.
Established in Arizona in 1988, Cold Stone Creamery has 1,400 outlets in the US and 10 internationally. It offers fresh ice cream with a range of mix-ins blended on a frozen granite stone according to customers' requests.
In the US the unit price ranges from US$1.5 to US$4, but Hsu was tight-lipped about its pricing strategy here.
Taiwan's high-end ice cream market has been dominated by Haagen-Dazs, which has a market share of more than 90 percent. The local office welcomed the competition, brand manager Daisy Chu (朱蕙芳) said yesterday.
Haagen-Dazs has 18 outlets nationwide and cooperates with nearly 500 restaurants. Revenues between May and last month grew between 15 percent and 20 percent from a year ago, Chu said.
According to a survey by ACNielsen Taiwan, Taiwan's ice cream market, regardless of price range, generates sales of NT$3 billion a year, based on statistics compiled from hypermarkets, conveniences stores and supermarkets.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last