Big Apple still going big on expansion

 

BIG Apple Donuts & Coffee, a Malaysian-owned company, is expanding its wings to the world with the recent opening of
an outlet in Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province of China.

Its director Mike U.K. Chan said the company, which opened last year, has managed to grow tremendously from just one outlet to 24 local outlets and one outlet in China.

“We are planning to expand next year amid the economic slowdown and we plan to open outlets in Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Vietnam and Cambodia, to name some,” he said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.

“People still have to eat and with that in mind we are still going big on expansion next year, because we know the café business will take off despite the impending recession,” he said.

For China, Chan has big plans for the company, aiming at 600 outlets to 1,000 outlets in various locations in five years.

“We do not have to advertise much in China as the café is being promoted by word of mouth. What I hear is that they are telling their friends ‘don’t die yet until you have tried these donuts’,” he said, laughing.

Chan said the company was initially sceptical about penetrating the Chinese market with the donut coffee shop concept.

“But there has been tremendous response and we are planning to open a second outlet in the same area soon and also one each in Beijing and Shanghai next year,” he said.

On the types of donuts offered, he said there are more than 25 flavours offered and more flavours are being planned.

“The durian donut is our Malaysian signature. We also plan to launch various types of donuts that come in various shapes as well as birthday donuts,” he said.