SugarBun to open 15 new outlets

KUCHING: Borneo Oil Bhd-owned fast food chain SugarBun has confirmed opening 15 new franchised restaurants including one each in the United States, Australia and Brunei within the next six months.

SB Franchise Management Sdn Bhd executive director Raymond Teo (pic) said nine of the new restaurants would be in Sarawak and three in Sabah. SB Franchise Management is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Borneo Oil.

“We are teaming up with Giant Hypermarket group as five of the new restaurants will be located in the Giant hypermarket complexes.

“These include three in Kuching, one each in Sibu and Brunei,” he told StarBizWeek yesterday.

SugarBun now has 34 franchised restaurants in Malaysia and abroad, including four in Brunei and one in Bangladesh. Six of these outlets were set up last year.

Teo said renovation works for four of the proposed nine new restaurants in Sarawak (four in Kuching, two each in Miri and Bintulu and one Sibu) were underway and set to open for business this month or in August.

He said SugarBun restaurants in Russell Street, Melbourne and in Hawaii near to a university campus had been confirmed.

The Australian outlet is expected to start operation in September while the Hawaii outlet a month later. Both outlets will be managed by Malaysian businessmen securing franchise agreements with SB Franchise.

“Asian cuisine will be the main dishes to be served by SugarBun restaurants in Melbourne and Hawaii. “There will be a live showcase of making roti canai. “Also on the menu are SugarBun’s flagship product, the broasted chicken, fish and chips as well as fresh pickled vegetables,” said Teo.

The Asian cuisine SugarBun serves in Malaysia include claypot chicken mushroom, beef stew, nasi lemak and sambal-eco fish.

He added the group’s plan to set up a SugarBun franchised restaurant in Quincy, Missouri last year was still being pursued.

He said the combined gross sales of the 34 franchised SugarBun restaurants surged by 28% to RM43mil for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2011, up from RM34mil in 2009 (30 restaurants.)

“The top SugarBun franchise restaurant in Sarikei town (lower Rejang River basin in Mukah Division) has chalked up sales of more than RM300,000 a month.”

He said SugarBun’s biggest franchisee now operated eight outlets in Sarawak and the second biggest operator owned seven franchised outlets.

Teo said SugarBun franchise business in Sabah and Sarawak continued to be in strong demand, adding that SB Franchise was zooming in the new growth areas in Kuching and Samarahan Divisions as well as smaller towns like Betong and Sri Aman to expand its network.

On the company’s 2012 domestic expansion plan, he said the target was to set up at least 14 franchised outlets - six in Sarawak and four each in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.