Big franchisors will gather in Vietnam for expansion plan

Eleven international franchisors will gather at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel next week, all looking for prospective country or master franchisees in Vietnam.

Participating franchises are in food and beverage, education, services, and come from the US, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. The event is organised by VF Franchise Consulting, a leading Asian franchise consultancy with offices in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Nine of the 11 franchise brands are food retailers: Little Caesars, the US’s largest takeaway pizza chain, Coldstone Creamery, a premium ice cream chain from the US, Cha Ji Tang, a Taiwanese fragrant hot and cold herbal/flower tea chain, Yang Xiang Ting, a Taiwanese dim sum-conveyor belt concept, Fidele, an American-inspired seafood and pizza chain, Bing Girl, a Taiwanese sweet dessert, Machida Shoten, Japan’s number two ramen chain, Mennya Kokoro, a popular Japanese dry-ramen chain and Pronto, Japan’s leading Italian cafe and bar chain with more than 300 stores.

The other two franchise companies are an education franchise from Hong Kong, The Edge Learning Center, and Sureclean from Singapore, which wants to expand one of the city state’s most successful hygiene and disinfection business into Vietnam.

Sean T Ngo, founder and CEO of VF Franchise Consulting, says there are more than 200 foreign brands registered in Vietnam, and the number of international brands that seek to enter Vietnam continues to grow by between 20 and 25 per cent annually.

“With more than 95 million citizens, it is a market that is not easily ignored by major franchise brands,” said Ngo.

“Not only is food and beverage a fast-growing segment, it is also a market that seeks franchises in Vietnam in education and services. Goldman Sachs recently predicted that Vietnam will be the 20th largest economy in the world by the year 2050.”

International franchises already present in Vietnam include KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Lotteria, Burger King, Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, PJ’s Coffee, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, Texas Chicken and Popeye’s Chicken.

Senior executives from all the brands will attend the Ho Chi Minh City event to meet with potential franchisees.

Franchisees in Vietnam will need a minimum investment level ranging between US$500,000 and $1 millon to secure the brands.