[외식업]치즈케이크 팩토리, 세계 지배에 더 가까이 움직이다

Cheesecake Factory inches closer to world domination

February 22, 2013: 11:49 AM ET

The restaurant chain recently announced plans to open a minimum of 12 Cheesecake Factories in Latin America. Up next: Asia?

By Beth Kowitt, writer

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/22/cheesecake-factory-global-expansion/

FORTUNE -- The Cheesecake Factory moved closer to transforming itself into a global brand this week with its announcement of plans to enter the Latin American market through a licensing agreement.

The deal allows for regional operator Alsea to open a minimum of 12 restaurants over eight years in Mexico and Chile, with the possibility of expanding into Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.

Earlier this month, Fortune detailed the California-based restaurant chain's entrance into the Middle East, its first international market, with its Kuwaiti partner Alshaya. Cheesecake Factory CEO David Overton said that once the company signed a deal with Alshaya, it felt committed to going global. The company has said that each individual licensed international restaurant should eventually contribute more than a penny to earnings per share.

 

The Middle Eastern market posed a unique set of challenges to the Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) because it had to make sure the menu complied with Islamic dietary laws. Moving into Mexico should be easier, with its proximity to the U.S. easing supply chain issues. But there's one caveat: "I think we'll have to look at our Mexican food and make sure it's authentic enough," Overton told Fortune.

Before signing its new deal, Overton and his team toured the region to see Alsea's operations, which include Domino's (DPZ), P.F. Chang's, and Starbucks (SBUX).  In Latin America, just as in the Middle East, Overton was impressed by the number of U.S. concepts, along with the tremendous growth of quality malls. "We certainly weren't the first in, but we don't want to be the last in either," he said. "Great sites in these shopping centers are not easy to get."

The Cheesecake Factory's first restaurant with Alsea is slated to open in Mexico City in 2014, but Latin America won't be the end of the expansion. Overton said the company is "quite far down the road in our Asia negotiations," with a possible opening in the region in 2014. At this point he's not saying who the operator will be.

The Asian market will require major menu changes to appeal to local tastes. "That's why we're going slowly," Overton said, "because we know they'll be a lot more work if we get going in Asia."

Overton is hopeful new sites in Kuwait and Dubai will be ready to open next year or in early 2015 and added that Alshaya is very serious about taking the Cheesecake to Istanbul, Moscow, and Saudi Arabia.

After Asia, don't expect any new partnerships in the immediate future. "Because Alshaya is so far reaching to so many countries and they're moving so quickly," Overton said, "we'll probably wait a little bit and then make sure we have the right infrastructure and everything is going well before we seek out anyone else."

요약

치즈케이크 팩토리는 이번 주에 라이센스 계약을 통해 글로벌 브랜드로 나아갈 것을 발표했다. 8년 동안 멕시코와 칠레에서 최소 12지점을 오픈하는 것으로 계약을 했고, 이 달 초에는 쿠웨이트 파트너 Alshaya와 계약을 체결하여 처음으로 국제 시장 진출이 될 중동으로 진출한다고 한다. 치즈케이크 팩토리는 라이센스 계약을 통해 국제적 레스토랑은 결국에 주당 이익에 한 푼 이상을 기여해야한다고 말했다. 치즈케이크 팩토리에게 중동 시장은 새로운 도전이다. 이슬람식 법에 메뉴가 적절한지 확인해야 되기 때문이다. 치즈케이크 팩토리 CEO David Overton는 말했다. 멕시코 시장에 나아갈 때에는 우리의 멕시코 음식을 보고 진짜인지 확실히 해야만 한다고. 계약을 하기 전에, Overton와 그의 팀은 그 지역의 식품유통업 경쟁사들을 둘러보았고, 라틴 아메리카에서는 Overton는 엄청난 쇼핑몰의 성장과 함께 이미 진출해있는 수 많은 미국 브랜드가 인상깊었다고 한다. 2014년에 치즈케이크 팩토리는 멕시코 시티에 오픈할 예정이고, 이는 끝이 아닐 것이다. 또한 아시아 시장에도 진출할 가능성을 고려하고 있는데, 아시아 시장은 지역 입맛에 맞는 주요 메뉴의 변화가 필요하므로 서두르지 않을 것이라고 한다. Alshaya는 많은 국가에 접근하고 있고, 빠르게 움직있다고 적합한 인프라가 구축되어 모든 것이 잘 될 때까지 기다릴 것이라고 말했다.