Yoma set to unveil Myanmar’s first KFC branch

It’s targeting the country’s rising middle class.

Yoma Strategic Holdings revealed this morning that it would work with Yum! Brands to bring the first KFC restaurant to Myanmar as a franchise partner.

The move capitalizes on Myanmar’s population of 50m, along with its growing middle class with rising disposable income. The group also states that the consumer and retail sector is key to its strategy to capture the rapid rise in discretionary consumer spending in Myanmar and it expects KFC to be the cornerstone of their business platform in this space. 

According to OCBC, “We are overall positive on this development as the group continues to add on new exciting businesses, in line with its conglomerate approach in Myanmar and also see potential synergies between this inroad into the quick service restaurant segment and other ventures in the food and beverage sector in Myanmar, such as its milk and cold chain businesses. Pending more color from management about this new business development, however, we opt to keep our fair value estimate unchanged.”