Chowking to add 20 new outlets, explores new markets

MANILA, Philippines - Chowking, the leading player in the Chinese food segment of the quick-service restaurant business, is pursuing its expansion with plans to add more than 20 new outlets this year as it explores new markets to further extend its reach and boost sales.

In a roundtable discussion yesterday, Chowking president Erwin Elechicon said the Oriental fastfood chain of the Jollibee Group of Companies is planning to put up two new branches a month across Metro Manila as he pointed out that there’s still room for growth in the metro despite of Chowking’s network of 400 stores.

Elechicon said the company will also continue to expand its presence abroad with particular focus in the Middle East. He said the company, though, is looking at penetrating the massive market of India.

“We’re interested in India because there’s a lot of Chinese restaurants there,” Elechicon said.

Chowking, which predominantly sells noodle soups, dimsum, rice toppings, and halo-halo, has 30 branches overseas which include the United States, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates.

He said the company would be spending less this year as Chowking has heavily invested in the past two years.

With the company posting record sales in 2009, Elchico said he is confident Chowking will perform even better this year as spending for the May elections is seen to boost consumption.

Edward Arandia, marketing director at Chowking, said the company’s objective is to be able to ensure the freshness of its food and the reliability of its supply all the time. He said the company continues to come up with new products to cater to the ever-changing and growing preferences of the consuming public.

To keep up with competition in the fastfood dining market, Chowking has invested nearly P50 million to upgrade its operations and refurbish old stores.

Chowking has its main commissaries in Highland, Muntinlupa City and Sucat, Parañaque City as well as satellite commissaries in Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and Pangasinan.