ASIA - Cooks’ Esquires opens 14th Chinese store
Cooks Global Foods’ Beijing-based master franchisee has opened its 14th new Esquires store in China.
The franchisee is a joint venture between local entrepreneur Ellen Zhang and the Yunnan Metropolitan Consturction & Investment Company (YMCI）, a real estate development business owned by the provincial government of Yunnan.
Cooks (NZX:CGF) Chairman Keith Jackson attended the opening celebrations. Mr Jackson says the Chinese market is growing rapidly and is proving very resilient.
“Esquires’ same store sales in China are ahead of last year by around 30 percent while overall sales are 80 per cent up on 2013,” Mr Jackson says.
“Much of the overall increase in sales can be attributed to Esquires’ growth programme which has seen seven new Esquires Coffee Shops open in China in just 12 months.”
The latest Beijing Esquires is located in a mall adjacent to a children’s play area close to another Esquires store located within the Crown Plaza Hotel building in Beijing.
About Cooks Global Foods
Cooks Global Foods operates in world markets and is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange under the code CGF. It owns the intellectual property and master franchising rights to Esquires Coffee Houses worldwide excluding New Zealand and Australia.
Esquires currently operates 78 coffee houses in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Middle East and China.
The supply division of CGF supplies both Esquires stores and other third party customers. Related businesses within the group include New Zealand-based subsidiaries Progressive Processors Ltd and Scarborough Fair.
