1.1 The Company
BreadTalk Group Limited started as a bakery in 2000 by Dr. George Quek and his wife, Katherine Tan. (CIMB, 2009) Today, BreadTalk is a listed, well-established food and beverage (F&B) company, who has expanded its business to 15 different countries such as China, Indonesia and the Middle East. BreadTalk’s business has 4 segments: 1) Bakery; 2) Food Atrium; 3) Restaurant; and 4) Franchise. (CIMB, 2009)
Owing to BreadTalk’s emphasise on innovation, BreadTalk is able to grow to global staff strength of 7000 employees, with over 600 bakeries and many different restaurants and food atria in the world. (BreadTalk Group Limited, 2013)
1.2 The Company’s Products and Services
BreadTalk’s products and services differ from brand to brand.
Firstly, their bakery business includes: 1) BreadTalk, which is a bakery, offering a range of bread, cakes and pastries; 2) The Icing Room, selling “Design-it-yourself” cakes; 3) Bread Society, an artisan bakery; and 4) Thye Moh Chan, a recent acquisition that sells traditional teochew pastries. (Quek, 2012)
Secondly, their food atria segment offers Food Republic, a local food court. Thirdly, their restaurants category includes: 1) Din Tai Fung, a Chinese restaurant that specialises in Xiao Long Bao; 2) Carl’s Jr, a fast food chain; 3) RamenPlay, a ramen restaurant and; 4) Toast Box, a coffee chain that sells toast and other local delights. (BreadTalk Group Limited, 2013)
1.3 The Industry
The F&B industry was analysed using the Porter’s Five Force, referring to relevant BreadTalk Group operations, emphasising on the bakery aspect.
1.3.1 Threat of New Entrants
The threat of new entrants in the F&B industry is high due to the low barriers of entry because of: 1) low initial capital outlays – cost of equipment and research is low, 2) products rarely have patents to it, making it easily imitated, 3) product differentiation exists, 4) easy
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