THE THAI DELIVERY chain started by the founder of the O’Brien’s sandwich bar network has been serving up a healthy return for its owners.
Camile Thai, which was launched by businessman Brody Sweeney in 2010, recorded a profit of about €220,000 last year as it expanded to include eight company-owned outlets across Dublin.
The chain of restaurants offering “pan-Asian cuisine” has been built around a model of offering good-quality, home-delivered food with the bulk of its orders coming online and via delivery apps.
It says its typical customer is a “young urban professional with money to spend but no time to cook”.
A profit rise
According to accounts just filed with the Companies Registration Office, the business’s accumulated profits came in at just under €500,000, compared to about €258,000 for 2013.
That was despite Camile’s ongoing expansion of its own outlets, as well as the planned roll-out of a franchise network in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. It also wants to expand into Belfast and London.
The start-up costs of a new, 1,000 sq ft restaurant are predicted to be up to €250,000, while the company plans to take 10% of sales from franchisees for management fees and advertising.
Sweeney, who had an unsuccessful tilt at the Dáil for Fine Gael in 2007, launched the business after the O’Briens Irish Sandwich Bar chain he founded went into liquidation in 2009.
The franchise network, which once included over 350 outlets, was later taken over by Abrakebabra.
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