Wingstop Restaurants Inc., the award-winning wing concept with more than 1,000 locations worldwide, announced that it has entered into an international expansion agreement with The Great Fundamentals Sdn. Bhd. to open 30 franchise locations in Malaysia over the next six years with the first restaurant set to open later in 2017. Siswanto, lead managing partner for the local franchisee, has been a successful entrepreneur and operator within the local F&B (food and beverage) and entertainment sectors since 2001.
Prior to heading up The Great Fundamentals Sdn. Bhd., Siswanto created and led the AUM Hospitality (AUMH) group, which has various homegrown local brands such as The Library Coffee Bar, The South East and Ichiban—The Izakaya. AUMH also added the franchise rights for American brands Johnny Rockets and Quiznos, as well as Singapore-based brand Franco. Under Siswanto’s leadership, AUMH grew to be one of the fastest growing F&B groups in Malaysia with 70 outlets across 10 brands.
“We look forward to partnering with The Great Fundamentals in the development of these 30 new Wingstop locations,” says Larry Kruguer, president of International at Wingstop. “Our success in Southeast Asia since first launching in late 2013 has generated over 30 locations across Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore with great consumer reaction and buzz about the brand. Malaysians are passionate consumers of chicken and this market will enhance our presence in the region while further fulfilling Wingstop’s mission to ‘Serve the World Flavor.’”
“We’re honored to be a part of the Wingstop family as it is certainly one of the most exciting American restaurant brands to be introduced to Malaysia in recent memory,” says Siswanto, managing partner at The Great Fundamentals Sdn. Bhd. “We are confident that the Wingstop experience will resonate very well with Malaysians.”
Wingstop is a U.S. based restaurant brand with a sole focus on freshly prepared, cooked-to-order, hand-sauced and tossed chicken wings and side dishes. Malaysia will mark Wingstop’s ninth international market outside of the U.S. with recent announcements including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Colombia, and Panama currently under development and opening later this year.
