Food Passion forays into appliances
Food Passion Co Ltd, the operator of Bar B Q Plaza and Joom Zap Hut restaurants, is expanding into the non-food business by collaborating with Smart ID Group Ltd, a maker and seller of IT products, offering small kitchen appliances.
The company has joined with Smart ID Group, the distributor of Anitech IT equipment, to market small kitchen appliances starting today, said executive vice-president Boonyanuch Boonbumrungsub.
The company has sold a licence for its Bar B Gon character to Smart ID to use on special Anitech small kitchen appliances such as kettles, toasters, smoothie blenders and mini electric ovens.
The products are available via the 11street e-commerce platform, 19 Bar B Q Plaza restaurants and the Bar B Q Plaza Facebook page, plus about 8,000 IT selling points under Smart ID Group at modern trade chains such as Big C, PowerBuy and Banana IT.
The company will gain profit sharing from this collaboration with Smart ID Group.
“The move will give Bar B Q Plaza brand greater access to people’s lifestyles,” Mrs Boonyanuch said. “This is the first time we have expanded into the non-food business. We plan to use Bar B Gon to collaborate with other non-food businesses to differentiate our brand from other food brands.”
She said the company is expanding into the non-food segment because consumer lifestyles have changed and online shopping is taking a greater market share.
The number of people who shop online will continue increasing, which will have an impact on Bar B Q Plaza restaurants because fewer people will visit shopping malls and eating out will also decline, Mrs Boonyanuch said.
“So we are studying a new business model to cover a wider customer group and make our business more sustainable,” she said.
There were 138 Bar B Q Plaza restaurants last year, and the number will rise to 153 by year-end. Food Passion’s sales revenue is expected to grow by 13.5% to 3.8 billion baht this year.
Thomas Hongpakdee, managing director and chief executive of Smart ID Group, said the collaboration will boost sales of home appliances, which are projected to contribute half of the company’s total sales by 2020, up from the current singledigit contribution.