The American fast-food restaurant chain, Burger King, aims to open more stores to expand its presence in Indonesia.
“Currently, we have about 30 stores in Indonesia after about four years of operation,” Burger King Indonesia brand manager Maggie Effendy told reporters recently.
“We will open new outlets; however; I cannot reveal yet where and when.”
Maggie was speaking on the sidelines of a tasting event for the so-called King’s Collection, Burger King’s premium burger range, to celebrate the year-end festive season.
Burger King Indonesia is managed by PT Sari Burger Indonesia, itself part of the publicly listed PT Mitra Adiperkasa (MAP), which holds the licenses for various upper-echelon retail brands.
Contacted separately, MAP's corporate secretary, Fetty Kwartati, told The Jakarta Post that the company was planning to introduce between 10 and 15 new stores in 2012.
“We are aiming at first-tier cities in Java with our focus still on the Greater Jakarta area, as that is [predominantly] where our customers are located,” she said over the phone.
“There is still plenty of space to expand.”
Fetty said Burger King’s contribution was still small compared with MAP’s total sales while being upbeat on potential growth. She said food and beverages contributed 12 percent to MAP’s total sales.
The company reported that its net profits covering the first nine months of 2011 soared 61 percent to Rp 238 billion (US$26.89 million) from the same period in 2010. Meanwhile, its net revenue increased by 24 percent to Rp 4.20 trillion over the same period year-on-year.
Commenting on a possible, prolonged economic downturn this year, Fetty said MAP was targeting middle- and upper-income customers who were more resilient to such swings.
She also welcomed competition, saying it was a factor in improving the performance of Burger King as customers have more choice.
“We are therefore driven to improving our quality, service and strategy, such as adding more menus in accordance with customers’ demands,” she said.
A number of fast-food chains, mainly American ones, have entered Indonesia including Carl’s Jr. and Johnny Rockets. There are also local brands, especially those aiming at lower- and middle-income customers.
Maggie said the Asia-Pacific region had growth potential for Burger King.
“We cannot say there are no impacts at all but we are becoming quire positive,” she said.
“Our customers are also moving upward. Those previously in the C group are moving into the B group, and those in the B group are moving into the A group.”
She added that Burger King picked various holiday seasons during which to introduce limited-period menus to help boost sales.
“In June, we introduced a limited-period menu to coincide with the school holidays, while the King’s Collection is for Christmas and New Year,” she said.
“The King’s Collection consists of XT Swiss Steakhouse, XT Beefbacon Steakhouse and Chicken TenderCrisp deluxe.”
The three items will only be available until the end of January, although Maggie did not rule out the possibility of extending the promotion should there be a positive response from customers.
She said there might not be a Chinese New Year special, however, as it was too close to the festive-season special.
