QSR restaurant/Central Restaurants

Editorial staff

Central Restaurants Group (CRG) plans to introduce KFC Quick & Easy at BTS or MRT in the third quarter of this year to reach customers more easily.

Piyapong Chitchumnong, CRG’s head of QSR & western cuisine and head of KFC, said that the company is developing many new KFC models to reach wide customers more easily. One of the new models to be launched in the third quarter is KFC Quick & Easy at some BTS or MRT. Covering an area of ​​50 square meters, this new KFC store will sell products for only takeaway channel.

Piyapong Chitchumnong

“We first opened the KFC Transportation Hub concept at Mo Chit 3 three years ago. It generated sales of 1 million baht per month. So we will open the first KFC Quick & Easy branch in the third quarter of this year," Mr Piyapong said, adding that opening the KFC Quick & Easy concept on the BTS and MRT will allow KFC to expand into places it has never been open before.

After opening the KFC Quick & Easy concept, the company will take 6 months to evaluate the market response before rolling out to new locations with 40,000-50,000 commuters per day.

It is expected that the BTS branches will generate revenue of approximately 1.5 million baht per month, compared to KFC dine-in branch at Lat Phrao, which will generate around 4 million baht per month. KFC Quick & Easy will strengthen its take away business, which accounts for 40% of CRG’s KFC sales.

Another KFC ‘s focus this year is to make its branches more digital. KFC currently has 14 KFC digital kiosks and will increase to 35 branches this year. The number of restaurants with digital menu boards will increase to 70 branches by the end of this year, from the current 17 branches.

“With these, it will help increase customer experience from having to order food at the counter to ordering through a kiosk instead. Moreover, customers can choose products more freely. Responding to customer needs with innovation and new technology all the time will help enhance the image of the KFC brand to look more modern and become a full-fledged Smart Restaurant,” Mr Piyapong said.

He adds that the company will invest 300-400 million baht to open 23 new branches, focusing in second tier cities, and renovate 35 existing branches. KFC currently has 338 branches as of May 31, 2024.

Recently, CRG has renovated the KFC branch at Lat Phrao into "Colonel's Legacy" concept to celebrate the 40th anniversary of KFC Thailand.
KFC "Colonel's Legacy" came in a retro style with alternating white and red tiles/white-red stripes.

In addition, there are new product launches, seasonal promotions and set price that is accessible to all levels

Mr Piyapong said that consumer purchasing power has shrank since May this year because the school term started, customers have more choices and new players continue to enter the market. Therefore, the company has revised KFC's growth sales target this year from early expected 12% to 8% from revenue of 7,050 million baht last year.

"The overall restaurant chain business in 2024 is increasingly competitive because new players are increasing every year. QSR restaurant chain business is even more challenging because the cost of raw materials has rapidly increased last year, affecting the product price, which conflicts with the overall economy of Thailand, which has relatively shrunk on consumption power," Mr Piyapong said.

In addition, he added there is a challenge in finding labours to support our expansion. As for the increasing of minimum wage to 400 baht, the company isn't worried very much because the company's wages are already over 400 baht.

In 2023, the QSR restaurant market was worth approximately 45 billion baht, with 21 billion baht in chicken segment and the rest in other types of restaurants. This year, the total QSR restaurant market is expected to grow by only 3%.