Restaurant chain operator Wowprime Corp (王品集團) is aiming to have its cafe chain Famonn Coffee (曼咖啡) break even this year by opening more Famonn Coffee outlets and offering new short-order coffees and desserts.
Wowprime — which operated 14 restaurant chains and 359 outlets in Taiwan and China as of the end of last year — yesterday said that it plans to nearly double the number of outlets under the cafe brand from 11 to 20 by the end of the year.
By offering certain desserts and coffees in short order, the cafe chain may boost sales by 20 percent, Wowprime said, adding that the chain yesterday launched short-order cafe au laits.
“We hope these efforts will help the [coffee] brand break even this year,” Wowprime vice chairman and president Endy Wang (王國雄) told reporters.
Next year, Famonn Coffee may see its net profit margin improve to about 5 percent, as the business reaches economy of scale, Wang said, adding that by that time, the chain is expected to have 25 outlets throughout the country.
Famonn Coffee is targeting department stores as sites for the planned outlets this year, mostly in central and southern Taiwan, Wang said.
It is also considering Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co (新光三越百貨), Pacific Sogo Department Stores Co (太平洋崇光百貨) and Dream-Mall Co (夢時代) as possible partners in opening the new coffee shops, he added.
Turning to the nation’s food and beverage sector as a whole, Wang said the global economic recovery could raise the nation’s exports and further boost domestic consumption.
Citing data from the five-day Lunar New Year holiday, Wowprime said its consolidated revenue from different brands is expected to grow by between 7 and 16 percent annually this year.
Wowprime’s consolidated sales jumped 20.97 percent to NT$14.89 billion (US$489.48 million) last year, from the NT$12.31 billion recorded in 2012, the group’s financial statement showed.
Wowprime shares fell 1.22 percent to close at NT$485 on the local bourse yesterday, better than the TAIEX’s 2.34 percent decline.
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