Mango Tree Restaurants Worldwide, the leading Thai restaurant operator, has ramped up its global expansion in 2019 with the launch of multiple new restaurants and “on-the-go” outlets in Japan, it biggest international market.
The company currently operates 30 outlets in the “Land of the Rising Sun” under six of its original brands: Mango Tree, Mango Tree Bistro, Mango Tree Café, Mango Tree Deli, Mango Tree Kitchen and COCA Restaurants. This collection has grown this year, with the opening of five new locations in three of the country’s largest gateway cities: Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.
This year of growth commenced on 7th March 2019, with the inauguration of Mango Tree Café Tenjin in Fukuoka, which became the first Thai restaurant on Kyushu Island to be operated as a franchise with a Thailand-based company. Set in the Solaria Plaza, a major lifestyle mall directly connected to Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station, this new bright and inviting new restaurant has become an instant hit with shoppers, local residents and visitors alike.
Then on 26th June, the award-winning restaurant operator celebrated the opening of Mango Tree Bistro Hakata – its second location in Fukuoka and the first Mango Tree Bistro in Japan. Set directly above the city’s main railway station, this casual concept offers a modern menu of Thai tapas, creative cocktails and much more. It has already gained a strong following among local millennials and visitors, including travellers at JR Hakata Station.
On 20th September, Mango Tree continued to roll out its innovative “on-the-go” brands with the debut of Mango Tree Kitchen Gapao Daimaru Shinsaibashi in Osaka, Japan’s second largest metropolis and culinary capital. Perfectly positioned in a prominent department store in the city’s main retail district, this exciting eatery specialises in phad gapao, the popular Thai dish of spicy stir-fried meat with basil leaves on rice, topped with a fried egg.
Then in November 2019, Mango Tree’s Japanese development accelerated with two new locations in Tokyo. On 5th November, Mango Tree Café Kitasenju started catering to travellers at Kita-Senju Station, which handles over 200,000 passengers per day. This continues Mango Tree’s highly successful strategy of introducing restaurants in areas of high footfall, promising delicious and nutritious Thai cuisine. This continued on 13th November, with the launch of Mango Tree Kitchen Kinshicho; perched on the fifth floor of Kinshicho Station, a key rail hub in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, surrounded by some of the Japanese capital’s busiest shopping areas.
“Japan is one of Mango Tree’s largest and most important markets, and we are thrilled to introduce our creative concepts to even more parts of this captivating country. Japanese diners are highly sophisticated, health-conscious and well-travelled; our strategy of bringing convenient and contemporary cuisine to shopping malls and transport hubs is helping to integrate Thai food into their daily lives – and into mainstream Japanese society. We will continue to introduce high-quality Thai cuisine to dynamic destinations all across the country in future,” said Trevor MacKenzie, Mango Tree’s Global Managing Director.
Mango Tree’s portfolio ranges from the first tier full-service Mango Tree restaurants to the second tier Mango Tree Café and Mango Tree Bistro – trendy Thai gastro-bars that offer lively social dining. Much of the group’s expansion in Japan however, is being driven by its third tier brands, including Mango Tree Kitchen, which focus on providing on-the-go dining in busy locations like airports, railway stations and shopping malls.
Many of these outlets focus on single item formats, such as phad gapao, khao mun gai (chicken with rice) or pad Thai (stir-fried noodles). Whichever brand or location guests choose, they can rest assured that all dishes will be freshly-prepared onsite by trained chefs using premium, responsibly-sourced ingredients.
Following these five new Japanese restaurants, Mango Tree is on track to reach 50 locations worldwide by the end of 2019, before doubling its global portfolio to 100 by 2025.
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