MINT announces the debut of The Coffee Club in Vietnam

On 16 October 2018, Minor International Public Company Limited (MINT) announced to enter into a joint venture agreement with Vietnam Investments Group (VI Group) to operate as the master franchisee of The Coffee Club brand in Vietnam. VI Group is an experienced and successful operator in the country with a strong platform of over 120 restaurants. The partnership reiterates MINT’s commitment to the promising potential of Vietnam, as well as its aspiration to grow The Coffee Club brand globally. Under the partnership, the initial plan is to open 100 outlets of The Coffee Club over the next 5 years.

MINT first entered Vietnam in 1995 with a joint venture in a hotel in Hai Phong. In 2009, the Company set its restaurant footprint with the launch of three leading casual dining restaurant brands, including The Pizza Company, Swensen’s and Thai Express. Today, MINT has 83 restaurant outlets across the three brands, as well as operates four hotels in four different cities in Vietnam.

The Coffee Club partnership is the latest development by MINT and adds the fourth brand in the food portfolio in the country with one of the fastest growing economies. Since opening its doors in Brisbane in 1989, The Coffee Club has become Australia’s largest home-grown café group with more than 400 cafés throughout Australia, New Zealand, Maldives, Seychelles, Thailand, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates.

“This is a great step forward for The Coffee Club as it makes its first entry into Vietnam”, said Paul Kenny, CEO of Minor Food. “With the flourishing coffee market and favorable macro trend, we are very optimistic about the opportunity to strengthen our presence in the country and grow The Coffee Club brand nationwide. Together with VI Group’s proven experience and well-established platform in Vietnam, we are confident that we can replicate the same success of The Coffee Club in other markets.”

VI Group has become an exclusive franchisee of the Pizza Company and Swensen’s since 2015. The Coffee Club is the latest addition to its restaurant portfolio, which includes more than 10 leading restaurant brands. David Do, Managing Director of VI Group commented, “We are excited for the opportunity to grow our partnership with Minor International and introduce The Coffee Club brand in Vietnam.

The Coffee Club offers distinctive restaurant experience with great selections of food and beverages menus, excellent coffee and welcoming relaxed atmosphere enriching contemporary lifestyles of the Vietnamese consumers. We believe The Coffee Club will be a great success in this market and look forward to opening the restaurants soon.”

Source: Minor International