CARPINTERIA, Calif. — CKE Restaurants Inc. has announced that its subsidiary, Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc., has signed an agreement to open a minimum of 100 Carl's Jr. restaurants in the People's Republic of China over the next eight years.
The agreement represents the first phase in CKE's expansion effort to develop Carl's Jr. restaurants throughout China and is part of the company's overall strategic plan to accelerate franchise development in international markets. Currently, CKE franchises 294 international units between both its Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brands. CKE expects to open its 300th international restaurant during the second quarter of the current fiscal year.
The franchise rights for the Carl's Jr. brand includes the municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, as well as the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu in China. The deal also includes food-and-beverage group BreadTalk Group Ltd. and Aspac F&B International Pte. Ltd.
Aspac is currently a successful Carl's Jr. licensee in Singapore and Malaysia operating 10 Carl's Jr. restaurants. BreadTalk has a network of 199 bakery outlets, with 83 company-owned outlets in Singapore, PRC, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand, and 116 franchised outlets across Asia and the Middle East. BreadTalk also owns and operates five world-renowned Din Tai Fung restaurants in Singapore, as well as 27 award-winning Megabite/Food Republic food atria in Singapore, PRC, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
"In the last five years or so, we have seen a significant rise in the demand for overseas premier brands in the quick-serve industry due to irreversible rising consumerism and economic conditions, said Richard Tan, Aspac chairman. "Our very successful launch of the Carl's Jr. brand in Singapore and Malaysia over the past three years has proven the attractiveness of the brand's product offering and premium brand positioning to consumers between the ages of 18 and 35 years in these rising Asian countries."
