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According to an announcement made yesterday (1Jul11), Food Junction has incorporated a new wholly-owned subsidiary - with an unusual name "Eggs & Berries Pte Ltd" - likely for a new F&B business venture.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...00014DC5D/$file/110701-Incorporation_of_subsidiary.pdf?openelement

Incidentally, yesterday Food Junction also recorded a rather high total transaction volume of 323 lots, all done at $0.215. Something else positive coming?
FJ's relatively new "MEDZS" Mediterranean-styled foodcourt located in the basement of Orchard Central is featured in an article (re-produced below) in today's BT.....

"Published July 9, 2011
Theme work
An all-Mediterranean food court, a contest that pits six ramen shops against each other - F&B operators are raising the stakes with creatively packaged dining concepts. By Tan Teck Heng

MEDZS
181 Orchard Road
Orchard Central
#B2-01/03


IF YOU'RE a food court operator and you're tired of the run-of-the-mill fluorescent lights screaming 'Chicken Rice', 'Yong Tau Foo' and 'Mixed Economy Rice', what do you do?

You up the stakes - and your prices - by creating a vibrant new eating concept that bridges the gap between common food court fare and gourmet restaurants. With that in mind, Food Junction launched MEDZS, a sprawling Mediterranean dining concept in the basement of Orchard Central.

Open since March, the almost 8,000 sq ft space is decked out with powder blue cafe dining chairs, textured stone counter tops, and intricate pendant lamps made from stained glass and bronze. The interiors, incidentally, were created by high-flying DP Architects - known for landmark projects like the Esplanade and Resorts World Sentosa.

'Our vision is for MEDZS to be a food haven for connoisseurs of all things Mediterranean and it is important to provide an authentic setting in the restaurant to enhance that experience,' says customer relations manager Claudine Tay.

The self-service, multi-store restaurant utilises a cashless-card payment system where patrons only foot the bill at the end of their visit. Ms Tay elaborates that the concept best replicates the feel of a bazaar, by providing a 'complete sensory experience' where customers get to 'smell (the food) as it's being cooked' and 'see it freshly prepared before them', she says.

While the similarity with Marche is unavoidable, MEDZS prides itself on sourcing its chefs from the Mediterranean countries or nearby to ensure the authenticity of its cuisine. One example is the Lamb Pastilla ($7), a typical Moroccan dish which is unusual in that it has a light dusting of icing sugar.

Overseeing the kitchens is executive chef Mus Anesrif, a Moroccan who has been in Singapore for over 10 years.

Pricing is definitely the attraction, with most dishes priced at $10 or under, such as a nicely done roast pork belly and the hot-selling duck confit (both $10). No wonder, then, that the restaurant attracts hordes of both expatriates and heartlanders on a typical weekday evening.

Does this mean that Food Junction - which also owns the Japanese restaurant Tetsu - is eschewing its humble business model in favour of going upmarket?

'Food courts are still our main core business, but we're moving with the trend,' says Ms Tay. 'We are going into lifestyle concepts, and we expect to do more of them.'"


Went there last week for lunch with my colleagues, as it was a weekday there were little customers @ around 30% capacity. I noticed it took quite a bit of time for each order despite them spread out over the counters. I'm thinking the wait should be quite unbearable during peak hours? That said the food is quite value for money I think.
Today's announcement on the closure of Malones Cafe and Restaurant in Suzhou effective 31Jul11 is a piece of bad news....
http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...A003432D6/$file/110727-Cessation_of_Malones_Suzhou.pdf?openelement
as there will be some write-off on fixed assets and closure costs (for breaking the lease, staff retrenchment, etc.) coming which will have a negative impact on Food Junction's Q3 results.

However, since the Suzhou Malones outlet has been loss-making, closing it is the right thing to do, as it should make Food Junction more profitable afterwards. The Suzhou Malones outlet has been operating since Q2-09.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...C00348309/$file/Acceptance_of_Lease_Malones_Suzhou.pdf?openelement

Would Mr Market offer those who believe in this cash generating F&B group a chance to buy into it cheap in the next few days?
I visited Raffles City Shopping Centre this morning (31Jul11, Sunday). At 11.00 a.m., FJ's "The Food Place" modern-styled foodcourt located on Level 3 was already packed to the brim!....
http://www.foodjunction.com/brands/food-...ood-place/
Q2 (ended 30Jun11) results announcement (first released on 5Aug11) makes interesting reading....
http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...3003BA145/$file/110805-FJH-Result_Announcement_2Q2011.pdf?openelement

While FJ's F&B business volume continues to grow steadily, there are still some problem areas to iron out. The PRC-based Malones operations is one of them and is now being down-sized. As well, the number of self-operated food stalls in FJ's foodcourts is being reduced by leasing out the stalls to third parties to earn license fee income. So FJ's management is quite proactive in solving the problems, with a view to raise the group's profits again eventually.

This time round, FJ's management/BOD has cut the usual and anticipated Interim dividend (last FY10: $0.0025/share), and this to me is a real disappointment!
Taking advantage of the market sell-off yesterday (11Aug11), FJ resumed buying back its own shares from the open-market and managed to pick up 220 lots at an average price of low $0.1901 (out of a total 282 lots transacted yesterday between $0.19 to $0.195).....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument
Again taking advantage of the market sell-off today (19Aug11), FJ had a field day and bought back another 342 lots at $0.195/share.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument

The direct effect of this is making the remaining FJ shares more valuable.
Today (22Aug11), FJ bought back another 200 lots at $0.192/share.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument
Today (22Aug11), FJ bought back another 200 lots at $0.192/share.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument
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