Gourmet Master Co (美食達人), which operates the popular 85oC (85度C) coffee chain in Taiwan, China, the US and Australia, yesterday said it aims to grab the Chinese appetite by running a total of 1,000 outlets in China by 2016.
That would be leapfrog growth from the 170 outlets it will have by the end of this year.
Gourmet Master currently has 284 outlets of 85oC on its hometurf, Taiwan, a market that is considered saturated.
“Next year, we will adopt ‘multi-city’ expansion strategy for China,” president and general manager Wu Cheng-hsueh (吳政學) told reporters.
After launching its first outlet in China in December 2007, Gourmet Master has gained presence along the east coast, with stores spanning from Beijing, Shanghai and Fuzhou to Tianjing and Shenzhen.
It aims to expand into more cities by launching another 100 stores next year, Wu said.
Most 85oC shops — which offer beverages, cakes and other baked goods — have enjoyed a good reception in China, thanks to affordable prices compared with rivals such as Starbucks, and its positioning of a leisure venue in which consumers may sip coffee while enjoying a piece of cheesecake.
To fund its overseas expansion, Gourmet Master is set to issue 3.85 million shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday, with one share set at NT$168 for the initial public offering.
Underwriter Yuanta Securities (元大證券) has said the share sale was more than 200 times oversubscribed when the public subscription ended last Friday.
According to Michelle Hsieh (謝明惠), vice financial president, the company’s capital expenditure has been set at NT$1.2 billion (US$39.4 million) next year, up from NT$800 million this year.
Some of the expenditure will go toward setting up three more so-called central kitchens in China. One kitchen is capable of supplying half-ready confections and ingredients to about 60 outlets.
The three new outlets will be located in Nanjing, Fuzhou and Shenzhen.
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