Mr. Pizza now operates 66 restaurants in China, with 38 more already under contract and scheduled to be opened. (image: Mr. Pizza)
SEOUL, Dec. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – “Mr. Pizza,” a Korean pizza franchise, is growing rapidly in the Chinese market.
MPK Group, the operator of the franchise, has recently seen a turnaround in November, with a profit of 110,000 yuan (US$ 17,674). According the group’s announcement on December 23, its total sales for 2014 should be around 72 million yuan (US$11 million), which is a 260 percent increase compared to 2013.
MPK Group opened its first Mr. Pizza restaurant in Beijing in 2000. It wasn’t that long ago that the number of Mr. Pizza franchisees increased rapidly in China. At the beginning of 2014, there were only 29 Mr. Pizza restaurants in China. However, the company soon received calls from multiplex shopping centers such as Wanda and Golden Eagle.
The group now operates 66 restaurants in China, with 38 more already under contract and scheduled to be opened. This means that the group will soon be operating a total of 104 Mr. Pizza restaurants in China.
MPK Group said that the newly opened restaurants were warmly received by Chinese customers, as the two-day sales for two newly opened restaurants alone were 365,000 yuan (US$58,653). Furthermore, 70 percent of newly opened Mr. Pizza franchisees in Shanghai are expected to recoup their investment after only six months of operation. The Nanjing Xinjiekou restaurant is the most successful Mr. Pizza restaurant in China, with average monthly sales of 1,630,000 yuan (US$261,931).
MPK Group also said its royalty revenue increased to 1.5 billion won (US$1.3 million) in 2014 and it is expecting to see further revenue growth to 3.6 billion won (US$3.2 million) in 2015.
Mr. Pizza is also expanding its business in South Asia, having contracted with two local companies to help establish the franchise. MPK Group signed an agreement with WCGC, a large Filipino dining company, in October to open its first Filipino store at Megamall in Manila in April next year.
MPK Group also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Malaysian conglomerate Ye Chiu in November to establish a joint venture to operate the franchise in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
By J. W. Choi (summerchoi@koreabizwire.com)
