Hungry for more: A&W to open second Singapore outlet in June, eyes 'important' halal market
SINGAPORE: Drawn like bees to dearest, hungry customers look in line patiently.
It is almost 10am on Mon (Apr xv) and the promise of crispy curly fries, coney dogs topped with chunky bask and frosted mugs filled with frothy root beer seems more tantalising than anything else on offering at Jewel Changi Aerodrome.
READ: Jewel Changi Airport opens its doors to beginning visitors
At to the lowest degree 50 people are in the queue, and American fast-food chain A&Westward's only outlet in Singapore hasn't even opened for the day.
"Today's the fifth 24-hour interval (since the outlet opened) and maybe one of the longest queues I've ever seen," said Mr Kelvin Tan, A&W International's managing director of marketing and advice.
"It's unique to united states of america at this moment where we are really the longest queue in Precious stone at present," he told CNA.
"Nosotros're glad to have customers who truly are very patient with us and have been adopting the view that adept food deserves the wait."
It is a look that has spanned 16 years for many of A&W'due south die-hard fans.
A&Due west – which stands for Allen and Wright – made its debut in Singapore in 1966 at Dunearn Route, and the start A&W bulldoze-through opened in 1970 at Bukit Timah Road. Merely after decades in Singapore, the fast-food chain decided to pull out of the country in 2003, with five outlets then.
READ: Rooting for you: A&W returns to Singapore after 16 years with Jewel Changi Airport outlet
This time, A&W is here to stay, insisted Mr Tan. And very soon, information technology plans to open a second outlet in Singapore.
"The outlet will exist open in the next one-and-a-one-half to ii months – in June," Mr Tan told CNA.
He declined to reveal more details, saying only that it will be located at a "very high traffic location".
"Afterwards opening hither, we wanted to be able to scale in such a speed where information technology would ease off the oversupply at the first outlet," said Mr Tan. "It'due south not that we come up unprepared, we know that in that location'south going to be a huge crowd."
There are besides plans to add a third outlet past 2020, he said.
READ: Throwback Thursday: The taste of nostalgia lures snaking queues of A&W fans on opening twenty-four hours
Across opening new outlets, A&W as well wants to cater to various segments of the local market, said Mr Tan. It has "every intention" of submitting its application to the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) for halal-certification.
"The Muslim community formed a very large chunk of our business (in the past) and I retrieve right now we will continue to respect and recognise that this particular market is very important to us," said Mr Tan.
"From the start, when developing the menu, we always wanted to make it halal, but obviously we demand to become the restaurant to open first - we are in the process - meaning to say we have every intention to submit our application to MUIS.
"We're hoping that the crowd will ease out a bit and then we volition go them to come in (and do an audit)," said Mr Tan.
"Right now, we would like consumers to know that it'south a Muslim friendly bill of fare, no pork no lard, and as shortly as nosotros tin can find the time to submit our application to MUIS, we will exercise so immediately."
On the timing of its render to Singapore, A&West said the opening of Jewel gave information technology an opportunity to make its improvement.
"We've been receiving a lot of requests from our fans all over the world to bring it back to Singapore," said Ms Emerge Run across, A&W International's managing director of business development.
"With the opening of Gem, we found it very timely to do it together."
In fact, fans wanted the fast-nutrient chain back and then badly that they set upwards a Facebook folio dedicated to A&W Singapore when news bankrupt of a possible return, added Mr Tan.
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A "hybrid" between fast food and casual dining, the A&W Gem Changi outlet aims to serve as an "incubator" for menu innovations and service design.
For one, this ways that in improver to the traditional all-american classics, regional favourites such equally the "gilded aroma chicken" from A&W's Malaysian and Indonesian outlets and the "waffle sundae" from A&W's Thai outlets are available.
"We have tweaked the menu then that it appeals to a wider group of customers," said Mr Tan. "We have brought in carte du jour items that have done well in overseas markets to Singapore. We still have our classics but have added new things to appeal to a wider crowd."
The Singapore outlet is not run as a franchise, but is managed directly by A&W Restaurants.
"Nosotros could take easily gone for a franchising concept … simply as a visitor-owned store, it offers us greater control over what we want to exercise for the menu," Mr Tan explained.
There is also an increased accent on the quality of food rather than the speed at which it comes out of the kitchen, he added.
A&W's burgers and coney dogs are put together only after the orders are sent to the kitchen, rather than existence pre-assembled. The same applies for its root beer, which is served to order.
"Dissimilar the typical fast food concept where yous place an society and you immediately expect your food to be served to you correct so, it's a slightly different concept that we are hoping to explore for this marketplace – especially in Gem Changi Drome, where we expect the oversupply to exist a little bit more international, where expectations are higher," Mr Tan said.
After Jewel Changi Airport's preview period, A&West will open 24 hours a twenty-four hours.
Equally queues continue to course, Mr Tan and Ms Run across remain confident that the chain will not lose its appeal amid Singaporeans in the coming years.
"What nosotros accept is a very skillful brand, a very good team already in identify and we'll be rolling out promotions and customer engagement programmes to assistance us bring in the millennials," said Mr Tan. "We have a very skilful strategy in place to make sure that this brand volition continue to thrive for a long time to come."
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/a-and-w-to-open-second-singapore-outlet-in-june-224371
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