ThaiBev to invest B1.3bn in expansion, renovations

Thai Beverage (ThaiBev), the Singapore-listed food and beverage company, plans to allocate 1.3 billion baht to open new restaurants and renovate its existing restaurants.
Sopon Racharaksa, senior vice-president and chief of food business for Thailand at ThaiBev, said the company set a total investment budget of 1.3 billion baht for fiscal 2025, from Oct 1, 2024 to Sept 30, 2025.
Of the total, the company will allocate at least 400 million baht to open 16 new stores in the 113-billion-baht One Bangkok mixed-use project, said Mr Sopon.
For KFC, the company operates 490 eateries in Thailand, aiming to add 10 more stores this year.
The company expects to open 69 new outlets in fiscal 2025, with 45 KFC restaurants.
ThaiBev wants to operate 888 restaurants by the end of fiscal 2025.
Mr Sopon said the company views the Thai restaurant business this year as still challenging.
“Despite the surge in the number of foreign tourist arrivals and the rebound of the eating-out trend, costs such as labour and raw materials continue to increase, which made the Thai restaurant business quite challenging this year,” he said.
Mr Sopon said the government’s planned daily minimum wage hike to 400 baht will have a significant impact on the restaurant business as the sector rely on services.
ThaiBev expects the quick-service restaurant business to achieve 10% growth next year.
The company is considering expanding into the ready-to-eat food market as the segment has grown in a positive direction since the pandemic, with a focus on Asean countries, Mr Sopon said.