Family-owned Thai eateries still popular amid increasing competition

Among the most successful segments are hot pot restaurants, which saw the highest growth in the past year, and sukiyaki eateries, long a preferred dining option among Thais.

Of the latter group, relative newcomer Suki Teenoi has become a massive hit, with profits soaring to nearly 1 billion baht in 2023, a 54% increase over the previous year.

The novelty of Suki Teenoi lies in its affordable prices and its shift to catering to couples and small groups, moving away from the tradition of the family night out.

Yet it isn’t only new establishments that are thriving. Even the traditional sukiyaki restaurants are continuing to operate, adapt, and compete.

Leading the pack is MK Restaurant, which has been going for 62 years and holds the highest market share, with 455 branches nationwide and an annual revenue of almost 10 billion baht. Other brands of similar vintage are also actively competing, such as Earw Thai Sukiyaki, Coca Restaurant (formerly Coca Sukiyaki), and Texas Sukiyaki.

According to Kasikorn Research Centre, an assessment of the restaurant market in 2023 indicated that purchasing power in the consumption sector is still fragile, and restaurant operating costs have increased. However, the intensity of competition continues to rise steadily. Two booming segments are the grill market and the shabu-shabu/sukiyaki market, with the latter boasting a market value of up to 23 billion baht.

Rit Thirakomen, chairman of MK Restaurant Group, a conglomerate managing the MK empire, shared the key factors that have led MK Restaurant to achieve such remarkable success, making it a top-of-mind hot pot brand among Thais in 2022. He highlighted several key points, including cleanliness, quality of service, value for money, and customer safety, which led MK to switch from using gas stoves to electric stoves as the restaurant expanded and opened its first outlets in shopping malls.

Another aspect that makes MK so profitable is its focus on creating experiences for cherished family memories. Rit mentioned that MK is not just about selling products and services; it's about selling experiences and bringing happiness to customers. In 2005, the restaurant launched the “family photo” memento for special days. Within a year, MK distributed between 50,000 to 60,000 photos to customers.

The addition of menu items stemming from concern that customers might wait for their sukiyaki for too long led MK to introduce roast duck as a flagship dish. Rit noted that MK is now the world's leading seller of roast duck, selling as many as 20,000 ducks on some days, while top restaurants in Hong Kong might only sell a few thousand.

In 2019, the MK Restaurant Group acquired 65% of the shares in Laem Chareon Seafood for 2 billion baht. This move came after MK established itself as a flagship brand and diversified its portfolio by branching out into various cuisines, including Japanese, Thai, bakery, and boxed meals, covering nearly every segment of the restaurant industry. Adding Thai seafood was a significant strategic move to further enhance and complete the kingdom's culinary empire.

At that time, Laem Chareon Seafood had a total of 26 branches, and by 2024, had opened another 6, giving it 33 branches spread across Bangkok, the North and the Northeast. Its origins can be traced to a modest hut selling seafood on the Rayong coast. The popularity of its offerings quickly spread and its debut in CentralWorld Bangkok with enhanced hygiene sent it into a new stratosphere.

Even before MK Restaurant came into existence, Thailand boasted sukiyaki establishments that passed down the delicious dishes through three generations. Earw Thai Sukiyaki, offering its dishes for the humble price of 5 baht per bowl, was started by Jun Seng Sae Guay. The popularity of Chinese-style sukiyaki gradually grew, evolving to the second generation. It transitioned from a roadside stall to a stand-alone shop and further expanded into restaurants in shopping malls. Apart from traditional Chinese-style sukiyaki, the menu also includes a variety of Chinese dishes such as Peking duck, roasted pork, Sugar Coated Taro, and Deep-Fried Crab Meat Rolls.

Coca Sukiyaki, meanwhile, is the oldest sukiyaki restaurant, turning 67 this year. Now under the management of the third generation, the restaurant underwent a rebranding from Coca Sukiyaki to Coca Restaurant to enhance its versatility. Coca was back in the news in 2020 after the decision to close its Siam Square branch, a location that had been a legendary landmark for more than 54 years.

Natalie Phanphensophon, who runs it today, said at the time that the decision to close that branch was due to a persistent decline in revenue for over a year and the expiry of the lease. Faced with this situation, she found it necessary to "choose" between home and family. She ultimately chose family, which in this context referred to the three other branches of Coca Restaurant.

Mae Sri Reuan started life as a small Thai restaurant in 1962. It initially only served chicken noodles served by Sri Reuan herself. According to Charn Rungreung, a second-generation member of the family who runs the Mae Sri Reuan Kitchen Company, Sri Reuan began selling chicken noodles at the time when the then prime minister Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram launched his policy of encouraging Thais to eat noodles.

The delicious taste and increasing popularity of noodles led to it being widely recommended, and its reputation began to spread far and wide. With customers from Bangkok praising its initial branch in central Pattaya, Mae Sri Reuan opened its first branch in the Thai capital in 1978. From there, the menu expanded to include a la carte menus and appetisers and there are now 34 Mae Sri Reuan restaurants located throughout the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Due to its outstanding Thai cuisine, Charn decided to grow the business by adding new product lines including instant Thai sour curry, massaman curry and yellow curry.

Mae Sri Reuan Kitchen Company has enjoyed continuous growth, reaching revenue of over 100 million baht for the first time in 2015 and generating 502 million baht in 2017. Covid lockdowns dealt it a massive below and by 2022, the revenue decreased to 411 million baht with a net profit of 114,325 baht. Although the net profit remains positive, it is relatively low compared to the revenue.

Today, from all the new openings, it is clear that the Thai restaurant scene is heating up even more, driven by a highly dynamic economy with significant financial circulation. Coupled with positive signals from key economic engines like the tourism sector, this year we are likely to witness restaurateurs vying fiercely to grab the largest slice of the cake.

Piraporn Witurat