A young Thai entrepreneur
designs a donut and donut store
to beat all donuts
By Jon Fernquest
Homemade bakery products using an old family recipe is the key to 25 year-old Thai entrepreneur Peter Thaveepolcharoen's new donut brand.
He's using the same recipe that his father used 25 years ago when he ran a donut shop in Los Angeles in Southern California, USA.
The donuts are even named after his father. Daddy Dough is the brand name, "daddy" being an endearing word that many American children call their father.
Thailand's donut industry is now worth a whopping one billion baht but it is still dominated by two international chains: Dunkin' Donuts and Mister Donut. Doughnut Maker is another smaller player in the market, but it is only found in coffee shops run by the Coffee Word franchise. There are also similar new and popular bakery products (substitutes) from other countries such as Roti Boy Buns from Malaysia that hit Thailand two years ago.
The family recipe may prove to be the key to success that differentiates Daddy Dough's donuts from the sometimes boring standard fare of the two long dominant international donut producers.
Peter majored in hotel management at the University of Hawaii, worked at a software company for a while after graduation. He tried hotel work, but didn't like it much. At first, he planned to follow in his family's footsteps and open a restaurant, but the idea of a donut shop came to him. He started a pilot donut store in the family's Italian restaurant. Things moved quickly and he finally launched the company in August 2006 becoming managing director (MD) in January 2007.
He's thoroughly studied the local donut market. Acknowledging the strong points of existing competitors in the market, he devised a business plan to differentiate his product and outlets from theirs. The core of his strategy is to target a slightly older age group (22-40) from the age group targeted by the international donut chains (15-22) offering over 40 flavours, not overly sweet, including standard flavours such as chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and cinnamon, as well as unique flavours such as spinach, sesame, and fruity jam. The donut itself is soft and light. Peter has also tried some new things that other donut shops haven't tried yet, like mixing real coffee directly into the donut dough.
Peter has put a lot of effort into designing pleasing interiors for his donut shops. With help from interior designers he decided on earth-tone colours to create a feeling of warmth in his shops. Open kitchens allow customers to smell and see the donuts in the process of being made. Untouched by human hands, the fried doughnuts move along a conveyor belt through glaze as toppings are poured on. Seeing the donuts being made helps attract customers and satisfies their natural curiousity.
Daddy Dough currently has four branches located at Silom Road, Siam Paragon, Central Pin Klao and Bon Marche with plans to expand to seven or eight branches this year. Plans to offer franchises this year are also in the making with two different store formats: a small kiosk and larger outlets. Plans for international franchises by 2010 or 2011 are also on the drawing board.
Marketing and promotion of the brand currently is done through low cost word-of-mouth, leaflets, and the internet. The beautifully designed outlets are also a form of advertisement.
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, 08-05-08, Parista Yuthamanop, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
homemade - made at home by mom ทำเอง (โฮมเมด)a recipe - a list of steps and ingredients used to cook and prepare food สูตรอาหาร
an entrepreneur - a small business person who specialises in starting new innovative (and therefore slightly risky) businesses เจ้าของกิจการเล็กๆ
an endearing word - words that make you fond of someone and love them คำพูดที่ไพเราะเสนาะหู
whopping - very big ก้อนโต
X dominated by Y - Y is more powerful and important than X (in the situation) Y มีความสำคัญมากกว่า X
a player in the market - a competitor in the market คู่แข่งขันในตลาด
a franchise - a business idea and procedures bought from a larger proven company ร้านค้าในเครือ
substitutes for product Y - other similar products, that can be used instead of product Y สินค้าตัวอื่นที่นำมาใช้แทนกันได้
differentiate (a product from competing products) - makes product different from other products to attract customers การจำแนกความแตกต่าง
fare - food served in a restaurant อาหารในภัตตาคาร
follow in the footsteps of - follow the good example of others เดินตามรอยเท้า
the idea of a donut shop came to him - the new creative idea suddenly came to him (like a being hit by a flash of lightning or having little lightbulb light up over head) ความคิดริเริ่มในการทำร้านโดนัท
a pilot - a small test before a decision for larger project โครงการนำร่อง
launched - started เริ่มต้นดำเนินการ
acknowledging - accepting that some facts are true การรับรู้ การยอมรับ การตระหนักรู้
a business plan - a plan for te success of a future business แผนธุรกิจ
outlets - stores selling a product, retail outlets ร้านค้า
core - most important แก่น สิ่งที่สำคัญที่สุด
a strategy - plans to achieve something over long periods of time แผน นโยบาย หรือกลยุทธ
chains - a group of stores perated by the same company ร้านค้าในเครือ (คนไทยเรียกทับศัพท์ว่า เชน เช่น 7-Eleven, ลูกชิ้นนายฮั่ง เป็นต้น)
in the process of being made - being assembled and put together, not yet complete ที่กำลังผลิตอยู่
a conveyor belt - a moving strip of metal or rubber, used to move objects around a factory quickly สายพานลำเลียง
curiousity - the desire to learn more about things ความอยากรู้อยากเห็น
in the making - planned and working on, but not yet completed อยู่ในระหว่างการวางแผนและปรับปรุง
store formats - store floor plans, sizes, and range of products offered รูปแบบของร้านค้า
a kiosk - a small building or structure selling things to people (for example, a news kiosk near the entrance to a building or at a BTS station) แผง หรือซุ้มขายสินค้า
on the drawing board - being planned ที่ได้เตรียมการไว้
word-of-mouth advertising - people telling each other and recommending the product when they like it การบอกเล่าคุณสมบัติของสินค้าปากต่อปาก (ลูกค้าเป็นคนโฆษณาให้)
leaflets - a little piece of folded paper containing information on a subject ใบปลิว