Gourmet Master Co (美食達人) yesterday said it is relaunching its China expansion plan, aiming to open 48 new stores this year after opening only two stores last year.
The cafe and bakery chain known as 85°C (85度C) told an investors’ conference in Taipei that the number of stores in China is expected to reach 550 by the end of this year.
“We have decided to reboot our expansion plan,” Gourmet investor relations director Chris Lee (李翰霖) said, adding that store remodeling was progressing well, increasing China’s same-store sales growth for 11 months in a row, and it had positive results integrating China’s 12 central kitchens to the Kunshan plant in the eastern province of Jiangshu.
Lee said various marketing efforts, membership programs and mobile payment services also helped Gourmet reach out to more customers in China.
The company hopes to maximize its capacity at the Kunshan central kitchen, which is able to support as many as 800 stores with the help of automated production, he said.
Gourmet saw its consolidated revenue grow from NT$17.92 billion in 2014 to NT$20.46 billion last year (US$5.48 billion to US$6.25 billion), with China operations contributing to 71 percent of the total.
Gourmet, which began with one store in 2004 in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和), now has outlets in China, Hong Kong, Australia and the US.
Lee said the company is confident in its growth momentum in the US market this year.
US sales accounted for 12 percent of the company’s total sales last year, he added.
“The sales from a store in the US are more than the sales of a store in China,” Lee said.
As about 27 percent of customers in the US market are non-Asian, the company is expecting its customer base in the US to continue to grow.
Gourmet plans to open eight new stores in the US by the end of this year, increasing the number of stores there to 25.
Gourmet said it plans to remodel more than 100 stores in Taiwan this year and expects to operate 380 in the nation by the end of the year.
The company’s net income doubled to NT$1.14 billion last year, from the previous year’s NT$527 million, with earnings per share increasing from NT$3.74 to NT$8.07.
Gourmet shares gained 0.4 percent to NT$251 yesterday on the Taipei Stock Exchange. They have surged by 80.58 percent over the past 12 months, compared with the broader market’s 10.16 percent fall over the same period.
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