The operator of the Coffee World chain plans to branch out with a new set of restaurant chains.

Global Franchise Architects Co Ltd (GFA) will launch three restaurant ventures this year, according to Fred Mouawad, chairman and chief executive. The new eateries are New York Deli, Pizza Corner and Cream & Fudge, an ice cream restaurant.

Based in Geneva, GFA is a holding company that operates restaurant franchises globally, with a focus on Asia.

Since opening its first coffee house at Assumption University in Hua Mark in 1996, GFA now runs 57 Coffee World outlets in Thailand, 15 of which are franchised.

Mouawad said the Thai chain last week started franchising Coffee World in Bangladesh. A local master franchisee has been appointed and about 12 Coffee World outlets are expected to open in Bangladesh over the next three years.

The company has already opened one New York Deli sandwich and salad shop on Silom Road next to the Silom Complex building. Five more outlets will be opened this year, including two more on Silom Road and one each at Siam Paragon and The Emporium shopping complex.

"We are looking for various locations to open our Pizza Corner outlets locally. We plan to open 20 Pizza Corner outlets in the first 12 months and up to 200 outlets in five years," Mouawad said.

In Thailand’s pizza-restaurant market, the home delivery and large restaurant segments are quite competitive.

"We will provide the take-out option because we are quite strong in this area. We believe in a small format, which can be applied to any location such as food courts, supermarkets, hypermarkets and commercial buildings," he said.

GFA operates 45 Pizza Corner outlets in India and one in Burma. The company also plans to open at least 10 Pizza Corner outlets in Beijing and Shanghai in the second part of this year.

GFA has also cooked up a new premium ice cream chain that will operate under the name Cream & Fudge. The first 50-square-metre ice cream outlet will open in the Siam Paragon shopping complex by the end of this year.

The eatery will apply a concept called “mix-in”, which is used by the US chain Cold Stone Creamery. Customers choose ice cream flavours and toppings, which are mixed together with a spatula on a frozen marble slab.

GFA currently operates 100 restaurants in Asia under four brands. Major markets include India, Thailand, Burma, Reunion Island, Abu Dhabi and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

"We will have a big expansion in China in the second half of this year. We have established a five-year plan for China to have 400 restaurant outlets in the country under four major brands. The expansion will include both corporate-owned stores and franchises," Mouawad said.

He said the company expects to achieve sales of Bt1 billion in Asia over the next 12 months and that annual sales in Asia will reach Bt5 billion in six years.