Cambodia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in cambodia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Fast Food, Beverage and Other Franchises
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Overview

With a young population of over 50 percent, the Cambodian market is seeing increasing demand for foreign brands from the United States, Europe, and other ASEAN countries, particularly in food and beverage, retail, and education sectors.

Cambodia is host to hundreds of international and local franchise brands. Food and restaurant brands are popular franchises in Cambodia. U.S. franchises in Cambodia include Dairy Queen, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Carl’s Jr., Cold Stone Creamery, Louisiana Fried Chicken, Texas Chicken, Little Caesars, and the Hard Rock Cafe. Other U.S. non-food franchises include ChemDry, Hertz, Avis, Marriott, Howard Johnson, and Hyatt. Other foreign food and restaurant franchises are from Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, and Australia, while domestic brands and local franchises continue to increase.

The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) in 2020 issued a Prakas on the Recordal of License and Franchise Agreements, which govern the registration and mark recording of licensing and franchise agreements. The licensor/franchisor, licensee/franchisee, or legal mark agent must file the application for recording using the MoC’s template within six months from when the agreement takes effect. 

Leading Sub-sectors

Besides food and restaurant, the retail sector is growing fast in Cambodia, particularly shopping malls and convenience stores. In addition to local-branded supermarkets such as Lucky, Thai Huot, Bayon, and Chip Mong, major international players entering Cambodia include Japanese-owned AEON Mall and Supermarkets (2014), Thai-owned Makro supermarket (2017), Canadian-owned convenience store Circle K (2018), Japanese-owned convenience store 7-Eleven (2021), and Korean-owned convenience store Emart24 (2023).

Fast food and quick service restaurants (QSR) are also increasingly popular in the main cities and tourist hubs like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Currently QSR brands are from the United States, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. A few examples of the new entrants in 2024 include American Little Caesars and Malaysian Marrybrown.

Franchises in other sectors, such as hotels and education, are also popular in Cambodia. Over the past few years, many international hotel chains are also entering the Cambodia market, namely Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Novotel, Wyndham, and Shangri-La; in the education sector, international brands include Kumon, Pingu’s English, and Global Service in Education (GSE), and the U.K.’s Shrewsbury International School and De Montfort University.

Opportunities

Significant opportunities exist across a range of fast food and beverage businesses, from quick service restaurants to dine-in restaurants and fast-food franchise chains. The hypermarket and convenience store franchise sectors also hold strong growth potential in Cambodia. Additionally, education franchises are becoming increasingly popular, spanning both primary and secondary education.

Resources

Ministry of Commerce, The Department of Intellectual Property, https://digitalip.combodiaip.gov.kh/en

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