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ASIAN fast-food chain Bing Boy is taking a bigger grip over Brisbane, opening its third store in Queen Street with another location in the pipeline.
There are 30 locations nationwide and counting, following the latest store at Post Office Square and a store in Garden City slated to open this year.
The franchise business first opened in Australia in 2011, rapidly popping up across Victoria and South Australia with Queensland set firmly in its sights.
East meets west with the company’s ‘bings’ – a Chinese crepe made from a thin wheat omelette and a variety of fillings.
Managing director Ming Ma (pictured right) says the company was confident the popularity of the meal would translate to the Australian market.
“Bings have been enjoyed as a popular street food in China for centuries so we were confident they’d be well received in Australia,” Ma says.
“We’ve been really happy with the response from consumers ever since we opened our first store three years ago, which has enabled us to move forward with our expansion plans across South Australia, Victoria and now into Queensland.”
Bing Boys employs more than 200 staff nationally, through a franchise model that offers low capital investment and ongoing training.
“Such has been the initial feedback that we’re now looking at opening a number of additional stores across Brisbane over the next 12 months, which will also help generate more new jobs which in itself is a great benefit of Bing Boy’s growth.”
Managing director Ming Liang Ma, VIC state manager Jay Liu, QLD state manager Leno Zhang and SA state manager Nora Zhao
The concept was based on a seventh century legend, where a wrongfully imprisoned peasant was only allowed to receive paper, ink and brush in jail.
His wife substituted the brush with a spring onion, ink with sauce and paper with a thin pancake called ‘Jiang Bing’ to feed him.
Ma says the company pays tribute to China’s history, but with a modern and western twist.
“While we obviously hope that customers enjoy the fresh taste of our bings, we also hope that the back-story serves as a subtle reminder to people to be aware of the immense value of traditional culture.
“At Bing Boy we have come up with our own version of Jian Bing, which while still based on traditional ingredients includes a few extra enhancements to appeal to modern tastes.”
To complement Bing Boy’s ambitious expansion plans, the company will boost marketing tactics to communicate the brand name – having previously only relied on Facebook and word of mouth.
Ma says despite an impressive launch, the team aren’t about to rest on their laurels.
“While we’re drawing on very old Chinese traditions, we’re still a young Australian business competing against huge multi-national food corporations.
“Ultimately, our plans are to open Bing Boy stores in every state and territory across Australia and then who knows from there,” he says.
“Expanding internationally is certainly a possibility one day.”
There are two other Bing Boy stores in Queensland, located in Logan Hyperdome and Westfield North Lakes.
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