Malaysian Restaurant Chain PappaRich opened its branch in Colombo on Friday. The PapaRich Group with its Sri Lankan partners Foodholics Pvt Ltd will invest over US$ one million in Sri Lanka with more PappaRich restaurants to open in the island.
Gerard Fernando, Director Foodholics Pvt Ltd said they had obtained the licence for the PappaRich franchise in Sri Lanka. “This is the first outlet and we intend to open a few more outlets in and around Colombo and where the market potential is there.” He said there were five Sri Lankan partners in the business. 
Fernando said prior to the official opening they had three days of trial runs to see the smooth operation of the restaurant and the reviews they got were excellent in terms of authentic Malaysian food. Fernando said he felt that they might be a good provider of Malaysian delights to the Sri Lankan consumer.
In terms of extension he said they were looking at new malls such as Shangri-La and Colombo City Center and probably in areas like Nawala and Rajagiriya where outdoor dining is becoming popular.
The director said most of the PappaRich staff of the Colombo outlet had been sent to Malaysia for training in line with the PappaRich franchise policy and to adhere to very strict guidelines set by the franchise owner. There was also a team of six people from Malaysia training the staff and observing the smooth presentation.
Commenting about the authentic Malaysian cuisine he said the food quality was excellent and authentic Malaysian and the pricing was extremely very attractive and competitive to Lankan consumers.
The Malaysian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Tan Yang Thai who was present at the opening said he was very excited about the place as his son who is a PappaRich fan was delighted to learn that brand was coming to Sri Lanka. After getting a chance to have a meal at PappaRich Colombo the ambassador said his son was delighted with the taste and said that it was excellent and similar to that in Malaysia.
Sebastian Low, President –Asia Pacific, PappaRich Gropup Singapore said Sri Lanka was the 13th country to obtain their franchise and next month they will be opening in Cambodia and in two months time they planned to establish themselves in India. (MFJ)
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