Max’s to bring Sizzlin’ Steak brand to Vietnam

MANILA, Philippines – Max’s Group, Inc. (MGI) is bringing its Sizzlin’ Steak brand to Vietnam, with a target to build 10 stores in the Southeast Asian country in the next five years, its top official said yesterday.

This marks Sizzlin’ Steak’s foray into the international market with Vietnam as its maiden entry. It also plans to put up a pilot store in the United States. Sizzlin’ Steak is a brand of quality meals on a hot plate system.

The Max Group has signed a development agreement with L Concepts Limited (L Concepts) for the Vietnam expansion.

“We are thrilled in this partnership with L Concepts given their strong credentials and long history of success. We are excited to introduce our sizzling offerings to the Vietnamese market,” said Max’s Group president and CEO, Robert Trota.

He said the overseas expansion continues to gain more ground.

“We envision to rollout our key brands outside the Philippines with strategic franchise operators. As new markets are established and momentum builds in the next few years, we expect the international portion of our business to be a significant contributor to system- wide sales and to our bottomline,” Trota said.

L Concepts is an emerging food and beverage player that focuses on the development of unique gastronomic experiences in Southeast Asia. The group currently operates a collection of leading restaurant brands, franchises and lifestyle concepts across the premium casual and fast casual dining segments.

Concepts is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Longfort Group, which owns a broad range of food and beverage business in Asia. It has been operating in Vietnam for the past 25 years.

TW Pang, chief executive officer of The Longfort Group, said the company is honored to partner with the Max Group and looks forward to bringing the Sizzlin’ Steak experience to Vietnam to bring the best possible customer experience to Vietnamese consumers.

The partnership with Longfort marks Max’s third development agreement for the year after signing deals to bring 15 Yellow Cab restaurants within 10 years to Saudi Arabia and 10 Yellow Cab branches within five years to the United Arab Emirates.

The company expects to further augment its store network by at least 200 outlets from the international front by 2020.

Sizzlin’ Steak currently operates 10 branches in Metro Manila.