Dairy Queen hot on growth
Minor DQ Co, the franchisee of Dairy Queen ice cream in Thailand, will increase the number of Dairy Queen outlets by more than 50% over the next five years.
Marketing director Anupon Nitiyanant said the company would open 40-50 new outlets and kiosks a year between now and 2020.
This would bring the total number of Dairy Queen outlets nationwide to 600650 in 2020, up from 400 outlets in 2015. The plan requires an investment of about 600 million baht and would create 1,000 new jobs.
Major new outlets will be geared towards the provincial market where major retail developers are opening new shopping centres.
“The plan will help us achieve our goal by making Dairy Queen the most popular soft ice cream brand in Thailand within the next five years,” Mr Anupon said, adding that the company also aims to boost its sales at a double-digit rate every year.
Minor DQ opened 10 new ice cream kiosks in the first quarter, with 30-40 more to be added in the rest of the year.
The company expects the number of Dairy Queen kiosks to exceed 500 in the next two years.
The new outlets will be added at existing large shopping complexes and new retail projects. About 30% will be in Bangkok and 70% upcountry.
The latest Dairy Queen branch will be opened at Big C Supercenter in Ranong on May 13.
It is opening Dairy Queen kiosks in potential locations to make its ice cream more accessible to customers making impulse purchases.
“Although the economic slowdown has affected consumer spending, we are fortunate because our product price is in the range of 10 baht for a cone to 495 baht for an ice cream cake, affordable for grass-roots people,” Mr Anupon said.
He said that regardless of the economic situation, the company will continue to expand its Dairy Queen business and has no plan to cut its marketing budget.
Moreover, the number of ice cream kiosk brands in shopping complexes has increased to 17, compared with only five brands in the past six years.
“The economic situation and the entry of new players are very challenging this year,” he said.