Mom's Touch is accelerating its franchise business in Japan. Having established brand recognition locally through directly operated stores, the company is now expanding its footprint by moving in earnest into franchising. It is also broadening its reach by entering new markets in Southeast Asia and Central Asia, stepping up its global expansion.
According to the food service industry on the 20th, Mom's Touch held a franchise showcase in Japan on the 16th of this month. About 25 companies participated online and offline. The event included a brand introduction, seminars and discussions sharing franchise operating strategies, tastings of key menu items, and individual consultations. Through the event, Mom's Touch plans to conclude the early market-entry phase centered on directly operated stores and begin franchising in earnest.
Mom's Touch first entered the Japanese market in October 2023, opening a pop-up store in Tokyo's Shibuya. The pop-up, which operated for three weeks, drew about 33,000 visitors, and 99% expressed an intention to revisit when a permanent store opened, marking a successful conclusion. Following Shibuya, Mom's Touch opened stores in Harajuku and Shimokitazawa in April last year, and currently operates a total of four directly operated stores and one franchise store. The Shibuya store, its first outlet, surpassed 100,000 cumulative visitors and 100 million yen in cumulative sales within 40 days of opening, and two years after opening it recorded 1.44 million cumulative visitors and about 10.4 billion won in cumulative sales.
The franchise expansion is expected to proceed smoothly. Mom's Touch Japan, the Japanese subsidiary, has secured a considerable number of companies that have signed franchise agreements, and multiple lease contracts for buildings where new stores will be located are also nearing completion. "In Japan, unlike Korea, it is common for the headquarters to secure in advance the location where a franchise store will be located and to propose it to so-called prospective franchise companies that have contracted with the headquarters beforehand," a Mom's Touch official said. "Since the related work is currently underway, more than 10 new stores are expected to open."
Mom's Touch is continuing an aggressive expansion strategy not only in Japan but across the global market. In Laos, it opened its first store in the capital Vientiane in March this year through a master franchise (MF) model, and will soon unveil a second outlet. The company plans to expand to six stores by year-end to build a local business foundation. In Mongolia, where it opened its first store in September 2023, it operates 19 stores, the most of any overseas market, and in Thailand, which it entered starting in Bangkok in October 2022, it currently operates six stores.
The number of countries the company has entered will continue to grow. Mom's Touch plans to open its first store in Uzbekistan in the second half of this year, entering the Central Asian market. The company plans to open a total of 60 stores in Uzbekistan. It is also stepping up its assault on the Southeast Asian market, pursuing MF agreements with local companies in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The industry views Mom's Touch as raising brand recognition in major Asian countries, including Japan, while expanding cooperation with local partners to grow its overseas business into a new growth axis. Some analysts note that Japan in particular, given its large food service franchise market and high interest in K-food, could establish itself as a key hub for overseas growth if local franchising begins in earnest. "In April this year, we appointed Shoichi Nakamura, who served as president and CEO of Pizza Hut Japan, as our new president and CEO to accelerate the expansion of our local franchise business," a Mom's Touch official said. "This year, we established a franchise-centered organizational structure, including finalizing a Japan-style franchise business model that adapts the store development protocol validated by the Korean headquarters to the Japanese market."
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