Panda Express (Panda Restaurant Group)

Aktivs

For 2018, the Panda Express network has more than 1.9 thousand points of sale in the world.

Performance indicators

2021: 18th in US sales: $4.5 billion

2016: 165th among U.S. private companies: $2.8 billion in revenue

According to data, Forbes at the end of 2016, Panda Restaurant Group ranked 165th among private companies USA with revenue of $2.8 billion.

Business in Russia

2024: Owner of "Shokoladnitsa" sold Chinese restaurants Panda Express

In August 2024, it became known about the sale of Alexander Kolobov, the owner of the Shokoladnitsa coffee chain, a 100% stake in Panda Express Rasha LLC. The company, which has been developing an American franchise chain of Chinese restaurants Panda Express in Russia since 2018, came under the control of Inna Tokhsirova, associated with the Shokoladnitsa business.

Freedom Finance Global aalysts estimated the value of the asset in the range of ₽200 -400 million, reports RB.ru. Throughout its existence, Panda Express Rasha LLC has not been able to reach profitability. From 2020 to 2023, the company's commercial expenses increased from ₽100 million to ₽120 million per year. Freedom Finance Global experts estimated the company's book value at minus ₽294,5 million.

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PandaExpress

In August 2023, information appeared about the rebranding of Panda Express in Monkey Express. The new chain of pan-Asian cuisine continues to operate at the same addresses in the center of Moscow, where Panda Express restaurants were previously located. Monkey Express' own trademark was registered in June 2024.

The fate of the American Panda Express franchise remains unclear. Although in mid-2022 the company managed to extend the right to use the trademark until the end of 2032, in 2023 the trademarks were terminated.

According to Natalia Mileenkova, founder of the consulting agency Level Up Consult, Chinese cuisine remains one of the most popular and sought-after destinations in the restaurant business around the world. She notes that investments in catering and delivery are rational, given the growth of the food delivery market in Russia over the past five years.

Consultant and owner of the Megaset74 enterprise Yevgeny Kondakov believes that the main problems in the restaurant business are related to the labor market.

Today, employees need to raise salaries twice. People do not want to go to work for a penny, there is an alternative in other industries for 12-15 thousand rubles per shift, - the expert emphasized.[1]

2018

In March 2018, it became known that Panda Express will enter the Russian market in partnership with the main owner of Shokoladnitsa, Alexander Kolobov, two sources familiar with the company's plans told Kommersant. According to one of Kommersant's interlocutors, it is planned to open five to seven points in 2018, about the same number in the next. Several lease agreements have already been signed, he added. In the SPARK-Interfax database, Kommersant found information about the registration in December 2017 of the Panda Express Rush legal entity. Mr. Kolobov confirmed his participation in the development of Panda Express in Russia, without specifying the conditions of^[2].

Russian business Panda Express will become part of the Shokoladnitsa group, which includes the coffee chain of the same name, Coffee House, Wabi Sabi, developed by franchising KFC, Pizza Hut and Max Brenner, as well as catering company Arena Foods Catering (the official organizer of catering for spectators at stadiums at the 2018 FIFA World Cup).

The emergence of a new fast food brand in the group's portfolio meets key changes in the purchasing preferences of residents of Moscow and other major cities, said Mikhail Burmistrov, general director of Infoline Analytics.

As for the lease conditions, Panda Express can count on a standard fixed rate for all food courts and a percentage of turnover, says Evgenia Khakberdieva, head of the Knight Frank shopping center department. According to her, new catering chains have not entered the Russian market for a long time, so the opening of a very popular format in the United States may be timely. Asian cuisine is popular today, but it is Chinese concepts in food courts that are now very few, the expert adds. Sergei Mironov, owner of the Fish and Meat restaurant chain, agrees. He recalled the interest of Russians in Japanese cuisine. Also, according to him, pan-Asian cuisine is now actively developing. Panda Express has no serious competitors in this segment today, the niche is quite free, said Mr. Mironov. Nevertheless, according to him, she will still have to compete with the more famous Vokker network in Russia.

History

1983: Foundation of the Network

The American chain of Chinese restaurants Panda Express was founded in 1983 in California.

Notes