An Shin Food Services Co (安心食品), the operator of Taiwan’s second-largest fast-food chain, MOS Burger, aims to slow the pace of its expansion and focus on raising growth at its existing 232 outlets in Taiwan this year.
An Shin chairman Theodore Huang (黃茂雄) also called for food material safety, urging the government to safeguard the safety of materials of upstream vendors, instead of focusing on inspecting downstream food service providers only.
An Shin, in which Teco Group (東元集團) holds a 30 percent stake, currently operates 250 MOS Burger outlets in Taiwan and China.
“We hope to maintain the growing pace of sales this year,” Huang told reporters, after holding a press conference at the annual Taipei International Food Show.
Huang said An Shin looks to slow the chain’s expansion and raise revenue contributed by existing outlets in Taiwan this year by offering high-quality food, with the company operating its own inspection center to ensure food safety.
As for the market in China, the company plans to accelerate the pace of its expansion by directly cooperating with a local strategic partner, with the schedule yet to be decided, because the company still has to discuss the details with its Japanese co-founder.
An Shin launched its second MOS Burger outlet in Shanghai yesterday, for a total of 18 outlets in China.
Huang, who is also the chairman of Teco Group, said the group and ABC Cooking Studio — a well-known cooking school in Japan — launched a joint venture in Taiwan earlier this week, aiming at developing the business in Taiwan.
The two companies would invest a total of NT$100 million (US$3.31 million) in the joint venture, with each holding a 50 percent stake in its Taiwan branch.
The company expects to launch 10 cooking classrooms in Taiwan over the next four years, with the first to be launched in December.
Shareholders yesterday approved An Shin’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2.5 per share this year, based on its net profit of NT$35.35 million, or NT$3.16 per share.
For the first five months, An Shin posted NT$1.72 billion in consolidated sales, down 0.02 percent from a year earlier, its stock exchange data showed.
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