7-Eleven operator DFI Retail wants a big bite of ready-to-eat food

WITH DFI Retail Group ’s top line stubbed by declining cigarette sales, group chief executive Scott Price is eyeing a growing appetite for ready-to-eat food – which he believes can transform the company’s chain of convenience stores into “quick-service restaurants”.

DFI Retail Group, which operates the 7-Eleven brand in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Southern China, is moving towards driving traffic to its stores for cooked food – which Price says would put the convenience-store chain among players in the quick-service restaurants market.

“We are seeing, in essence, the opportunity for our 7-Eleven (stores) to become convenient quick-service restaurants,” he said on Friday (Aug 2), after the group posted robust first-half underlying profit driven by its food and convenience segments.