The first, and flagship, branch will open in Phnom Penh in March this year, followed quickly by a second flagship in Siem Reap in April, said RCG Retail (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s president, Jiranun Wongmongkol, in an interview with The Nation recently.

Then the company will open up to investors in Cambodia interested in opening an Inthanin coffee branch in the country. The cost of applying for the licence and opening a branch would be around $200,000 (Bt6.29 million) on average, she said. Around 20 staff will be employed by each location.

Bangchak Retail Co Ltd’s managing director, Viboon Wongsakul, said that Inthanin deal for Cambodia is part of its business plan to expand its business in CLMV countries – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

“Cambodia has a strong demand to consume coffee and the purchasing power to spend an average $4 per cup,” Viboon said.

“This is a challenge for us to expand our franchise business of Inthanin Coffee in this country with targeted average sales of 300 cups a day for the first year of operation,” he said.

The company will supply coffee from Thailand, exporting it to franchisees in Cambodia, he added. Master franchisee RCG Retail will find local baked goods and other food to distribute through the Inthanin coffee outlets in Cambodia.

The companies want to support local products, he said.

Jiranun, RCG Retail’s president, said the company had already contracted with 20 Cambodian producers to distribute their products at Inthanin coffee branch nationwide.

“Our investment to open Inthanin coffee branches in Cambodia is expected to create new jobs for Cambodian people – over 2,000 jobs from the year 2018 until the year 2022 – and will also increase trade values between Thai and Cambodia,” Jiranun said.

Inthanin Coffee is the second Thai coffee firm to expand its franchise business into Cambodia, following Amazon Coffee, which is owned by |PTT Plc.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Corporate/30339658