BreadTalk to open in Myanmar next year

Myanmar’s growing group of middle-class consumers can now look forward to Singapore bakery giant BreadTalk’s pastries and baked goods as the home-grown bakery brand will soon be available in Myanmar.

It signed a franchise agreement with Myanmar Bakery on Tuesday (May 3), which will allow Myanmar Bakery to hold the master franchise to operate BreadTalk outlets in Myanmar.

The first outlet is expected to open in Yangon by early 2017 in one of the shopping centres owned by the Shwe Taung Group. Myanmar Bakery is part of Myanmar conglomerate Shwe Taung Group, which owns an extensive network of real estate businesses in Myanmar.

The deal marks the first food and beverage venture in Myanmar for the Shwe Taung Group and is also BreadTalk’s maiden foray into Myanmar.

“With a growing middle class and rising retail consumption, there are immense growth opportunities for BreadTalk in Myanmar,” said Mr Tan Aik Peng, chief executive officer of BreadTalk’s Bakery division.

“The Singapore team is working closely with the Shwe Taung Group to understand the Myanmar market and we promise an exciting line up with BreadTalk’s first boutique bakery in Yangon.”

He added that BreadTalk was confident that they will “introduce a new lifestyle of bread appreciation” to Myanmar’s burgeoning middle class.

BreadTalk operates close to 800 outlets across Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand.

The Shwe Taung group of companies is a conglomerate involved in real estate, construction and engineering, infrastructure, hotels, entertainment, trading and investment. It also operates the Junction Centre group of shopping centres, which include malls in Yangon and in Naypyitaw, the country’s administrative capital.

The group is also behind the upcoming Junction City, which is an integrated development in downtown Yangon which will comprise a lifestyle shopping mall, an office tower and a five-star luxury hotel scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2017.