Chowking sees 11.5% sales growth to P8.7B this year

Chowking Foods Corp., the Oriental fastfood chain of the Jollibee Food Group of Companies, is eyeing an 11.5 percent growth in sales this year on the back of increased consumer spending.

Eduardo Paredes, assistant to the president for Chowking’s international business development, said sales are expected to hit P8.7 billion by the end of the year, from P7.8 billion in 2004.

He said the company is building three new stores this year to bring to 17 its total branch network overseas. From only 150 stores in 2000, Chowking now has a total of 313 branches in and outside the Philippines, making it the second largest fastfood chain in terms of store network.

"We believe that we will continue to grow through continued expansion overseas. We will continue to seek customers wherever they are," Paredes said.

He said two new stores will be put up in Jakarta and another in Dubai. Research and development cost for each mall is estimated at between P9 million to P10 million.

"We are continuously looking at other areas for possible expansion. But it would most likely still be in Asia," Paredes said.

As part of its overseas expansion drive, Chowking will soon open a store in India to take advantage of its huge population which currently stands at 1.1 billion. "Hopefully the store will be completed in two months. We are confident we can make it in India," he added.

Chowking has eight stores in the United States, three in the United Arab Emirates and the rest in Indonesia.