Sushi King seeks to widen network and boost membership

SUSHI King Sdn Bhd, which operates the Japanese restaurant chain Sushi King, is expanding its operations to reach Malaysians in every state.

Executive director Law Hwee Ching says the company plans to open its maiden restaurants in Perlis in 2015, Terengganu in 2014 and Kelantan by end of this year.

“We are everywhere, not just in major towns but also in secondary towns including Batu Pahat, Muar, Kulim and Sungai Petani,” she tells StarBizWeek.

Apart from physical outlets, this first Japanese restaurant chain in Malaysia has a membership programme where members get a discount on their purchases. It has 150,000 members, most of whom are in the Klang Valley. Law said Sushi King is targetting to raise the number of members to 185,000 in 2014.

With net sales of RM81mil in the first half of this year, which was 19% higher than in the corresponding period in 2012, the company is also taking the membership drive to social media sites.

“We have about 300,000 fans and we keep our customers updated on the latest happenings. From this database, we establish interactions by inviting our fans to come to our restaurants and we will introduce to them our servings,” she says.

Sushi King fans will be given the programme for the interaction sessions from the Sushi King social media site, and if they are keen, they can register.

As part of its efforts to continue growing Malaysians’ interest in the Japanese cuisine, Law says the company continues to organise sushi-making classes for the public, a year-round affair since 2005.

“About 20,000 people participated annually, with the majority being children as we also work with kindergartens,” she says. The programme also offers kitchen tours for adults.

Sushi King has grown from its first 900-sq-ft premise in a retail mall in 1995 to a chain of 75 outlets, including three in Sabah and five in Sarawak.

The company’s strategy focuses on preparing the best sushi, right from the raw materials.

“We have air-conditioned rooms to ensure that the rice imported from Vietnam remains at 16 degrees Celsius,” she says.

Apart from that, it has two executive chefs from Japan catering for the Malaysian market. “They are involved with sourcing for the raw materials to menu creation which meets Malaysian demand,” she says.

This, according to Law, is to achieve the long-term objective of making Sushi King the preferred choice of Malaysians.

From the branding perspective, Sushi King has changed its tagline three times, from “Love at first bite” in 1995 to “Smiling, served fresh” this year.

Explaining the rationale of the new tagline, Law says: “We hope Malaysians will come to our outlets daily and enjoy their time here. From our focus group survey, this is the main priority that customers want from a Japanese restaurant.

“It was chosen for one simple reason, namely that a person who is happy and satisfied will smile. At Sushi King, we truly believe that there’s nothing more important than making our customers smile.”

Customer service is crucial and Law is aware of the growing competitions from various food and beverage players. Apart from training, she says it is vital that the staff are happy, as this would be reflected in the level of their service to the customers.

One way to ensure their happiness is by having appropriate remuneration schemes for the approximately 1,600 employees.

There are no plans to franchise out the restaurants in Malaysia, but Law says the company is looking at the franchise plan overseas.

“It is a good business model but having it (a franchise system) within Malaysia may also cannibalise with our existing business. If it is overseas, franchisees can benefit from our strong branding and capitalise on the new market,” she said.

Law is looking forward to win the Star Business Awards (SOBA) after winning another local award for eight years in a row.

For her, SOBA is a means to challenge the company to grow further. “We also see it as a means to improve our brand image, as being a winner in an award organised by the leading English daily would also mean prominent coverage for us,” she says.