Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods is planning to roll out up to 500 quick-service Thai restaurants in Australia, a market it sees as ripe for a fast-food explosion, reports said on Tuesday.

The food arm of Thailand's largest agriculture-based company also plans to expand into the booming ready-to-eat meals segment as its Australian investments grow to more than $200m over the next five years.

"The best-practice model for restaurants and franchises globally is in Australia," regional general manager Richard Lovell told the Australian newspaper ahead of opening the company's first restaurant in the country, 1000Wat, in Melbourne.

"Over the next four years our target is 300 to 500 stores with a modern Thai, fast-food, great value-for-money offering."

Lovell said the company, the leading agro-industrial and food conglomerate in the Asia-Pacific region, planned to open more stores in Melbourne this year before moving to other state capitals.

CP Foods said it wanted to boost its revenue from fast food from 3% to 10% within a decade.

"After 28 years' experience in Thailand and following our expansions into markets like India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, we want to grow our fast-food concept in Australia," Lovell said.

Source: The guardian - 22 July 2014