BKK Post / June 10, 1998 

FASTFOOD 
Oil-dipped flour may be the answer to the hamburger 
invasion 
Tiny Chef promises stiff competition for Western food 
giants 

Krissana Parnsoonthorn 
   The Chinese traditional snack known as pa tong go, (oil-
dipped flour) which was eaten with black coffee in the old 
days, is about to take on the modern western-style fast-
food giants.
   The first salvo was fired across the bows of the chicken 
and hamburger chains when the Franchise Development & 
Consultant Co disclosed that it had opened the first pa 
tong go franchise in Thailand.
   Its logo of Tiny Chef Pa Tong Go will appear near your 
home soon, said company president Prasart Kiatpaibulkit.
   Mr Prasart said he started developing the franchise of 
Tiny Chef Pa Tong Go as he wanted to create a unique daily 
local food similar to the western food franchises.
   "I have visited many international food fairs abroad. I 
have been interested in the food business and inspired by 
my close friends to do something related to flour," said Mr 
Prasart.
   Pa tong go was the answer because it is a food that is 
familiar to Thais and Chinese-Thais.
   Mr Prasart hired Professor Thanin Silpjaru from the King 
Mongkut's Institute of Technology (North Bangkok Campus) to 
conduct a feasibility study on the pa tong go franchise.
   The study was completed last November, and according to 
Mr Prasart, it found that selling pa tong go under his 
franchise system could generate additional income during 
the economic crisis.
   The recipe of Tiny Chef Pa Tong Go belongs to a vendor 
in Chiang Rai who was invited to hold a 10% stake in the 
company operating the pre-mix flour plant.
   Under the Tiny Chef Pa Tong Go franchise, the franchisee 
must pay an initial fee of 50,000 baht to become a 
distribution centre for 20 vendors.
   The company's production plant is in Nong Kham District 
where it pre-mixes the flour for sale to its distribution 
centres.
   The franchisees, or the distribution centres, must 
produce ready-to-cook pa tong go flour, soybean milk and 
sang kaya sweet cream (made of sugar, eggs and coconut 
milk) to deliver to its vendors.
   "We can control the quality of our pa tong go. We now 
have three registered distribution centres; two in Bangkok 
and one in Saraburi," said Mr Prasart.
   Vendors pay 16,500 baht as an initial outlay for all the 
necessary equipments. They will receive the cooking 
material when they are ready to start selling.
   A set of Tiny Chef Pa Tong Go, comprising eight donuts, 
one glass of soybean milk and sweet cream will cost 15 
baht.
   The company has demonstrated its line of food at many 
places, such as SCB Park Plaza, to test the market.