Mega Coffee aims to go big with first franchise in Mongolia

Asia Pharma has signed a master franchise agreement to bring Mega Coffee to Mongolia, with the first shop opening on Thursday.

A Mega Coffee shop in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [NEWS1]

An operator of the Mega Coffee franchise will open its first coffee shop in Mongolia on Thursday, owing to growing interest in Korean food trends in the country.

After signing a master franchise agreement with a local company, Asia Pharma, the company has set up its first shop in Ulaanbaatar, occupying a 100-square-meter (1,076-square-feet) space on the first floor of the franchisee's headquarters.

A master franchise agreement allows the owner of the franchise brand to grant another party the rights to use the brand, open stores and operate the business within a designated territory.

The company attributed its entry in Mongolia to the high interest of Mongolians in Korean culture, and said that other Korean consumer companies have already made a foray into the country, making it the ideal place for Mega MGC Coffee to start its global expansion.

Home to about half of Mongolia’s population, Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city with a significant Korean population, thus offering a promising hub to cultivate profit and business growth, according to the company.

Asia Pharma, a pharmaceutical importer and distributor in Mongolia, will serve as Mega MGC Coffee’s master franchisee, managing both directly operated stores and franchise operations there.

"While there are no concrete plans to open additional stores in other locations yet, we are considering further expansion into other regions in Asia and in America, with the experiential know-how gained through the Mongolian operation,” a Mega MGC Coffee employee said.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]