Loob looks beyond Chatime

PETALING JAYA: Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, the company that introduced the Chatime brand in Malaysia, aims to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in the next two years, with plans to venture into digital advertising and education.
Founder and managing director Byran Loo said the company's vision is to create a young and vibrant multi-label food and beverage (F&B) organisation but it is also open to opportunities beyond the F&B sector.
"I do not restrict myself to only F&B. If there are opportunities to look at other sectors I think we will definitely do that. This year, the most important thing is we want to invest in two things. One is a digital advertising agency and two is a hospitality school," he told SunBiz in an interview.
"I want to invest in all these service provider sort of companies because it is relevant to my business. Each and every portfolio we have naturally needs these kinds of services. The hospitality school will groom a lot of talent to support our own business plans and it is something that I'm very keen on," he added.
Loo said the plan is to expand into these areas either via acquisition or joint venture (JV) but it is also open to starting the new businesses from scratch if it is able to secure a managing partner.
"We are already in talks with some prospects. Ideally we want to start this year. We will explore that and we definitely want to bring the company public in the next two years," he said.
In terms of portfolio expansion, Loo said the strategy last year was to slow down on expanding core brands and invest money into new brands. Last year, it introduced several brands including Japanese gastrobar Hacha Mecha, whisky bar Ikki, Spanish frozen yogurt Llaollao and waffle outlet Grid & Go.
"Our expansion for Chatime was rather slow. Our target is about 30-40 outlets on a yearly basis but last year was 25. I have put on a slower expansion mode for Chatime until the market recovers but I have pushed for faster expansion in our new portfolio," he said.
The company also signed a JV with Japanese F&B corporation HotLand Co. Ltd, which has seven brands under its belt. Loo said it has the rights to introduce HotLand's brands into Asean markets over the next three to five years.
"We want to play a larger role instead of just being domestically focused. We are a lot more ready for Asean markets. All these years, we have been focusing on the Malaysian market but when Malaysian market got soft, you are just putting all your eggs in a single basket. So we must go regional," he said, adding that it will also set up a JV company in Japan this year with plans to introduce some of its brands in Tokyo.
This year, the company plans to introduce three to five new brands in Malaysia. It has a total of nine brands now. While the JV with HotLand will keep it busy in 2016, it is also in talks with F&B corporations from around the region.
"But I'm very particular about the business model that I want to invest in. The business model must have three criteria: firstly, it must be fast moving. I only want to look at fast-moving products like Chatime and llaollao. Secondly, it must be vibrant and flexible. For example, Chatime has small outlets to very big outlets. I want a flexible business model that is not restricted by rental rates.
"Thirdly, it must be at least or more than 80% automated. With that, I don't really need to worry about human error and still be able to retain quality. I would also be able to scale it a lot faster," said Loo.
In terms of its existing brands, Loo said the whisky bar, Ikki, is the company's first venture into the alcoholic beverages segment. Conceptualised via a collaboration with Haig Club, the whisky bar specialises in Haig Club-inspired cocktails.
"I thought I would never be involved in the alcohol business. This has opened up a different learning curve to the company as we get to operate alcohol brands. We are trying to position it as a cocktail specialist in a speakeasy mode," he said.
As for its core business Chatime, the brand continues to expand via a memorandum of understanding with Shell to open 100 Chatime Lite at Shell petrol stations, and new outlets at public transport areas.
Loo said the capital expenditure for Chatime is reduced by 30% as the new model, Chatime Lite, serves only the top 40 drinks instead of the full list of over 90 drinks.

"We have also found more stability in the petrol station model because it is really you against the can drinks, not you against other drinks. So when it is us against the can drinks, we are always the winner because the expectation for a growing nation, is ready-made versus fresh brewed," he said.
He added that the Chatime brand is secured at least for the next three years with these expansion plans which will grow Chatime by 150 to 200 outlets over the next three to five years.