Vietnam, with its rapid economic growth and urbanization, presents a dynamic landscape for franchise opportunities. The laundry business, in particular, stands out as a blue ocean due to low competition and rising demand, while lessons from other sectors like food and beverage (F&B), cafes, convenience stores, retail, beauty, spas, and bakeries offer valuable insights into successes and failures. This article analyzes the state of Vietnam’s franchise market in 2025, explores the investment potential of the laundry business, and underscores the importance of localization strategies. By examining cases like The Born Korea’s withdrawal and Lotteria’s losses, it highlights market challenges and proposes strategic directions for success.
While this article focuses on Korean companies and brands, the Vietnamese market also sees strong activity from local and international franchises such as Cộng Cà Phê, Phở Thìn 13 Lò Đúc, Haidilao, Citi Gym, Pamacity, and Korean brands like Lotteria and GS25.
Vietnam Franchise Market Overview
Vietnam’s franchise market, particularly in F&B, is experiencing robust growth. Since 2015, when foreign companies were allowed to establish wholly-owned subsidiaries, international brands have accelerated their entry. From 2021 to 2024, the F&B franchise market grew at an annual rate of 27%, reaching approximately USD 1.95 billion in 2024. This growth is driven by an expanding middle class, the rise of delivery apps and digital platforms, and increasing demand for dining out among younger consumers. Beyond F&B and cafes, franchises in convenience stores, retail, beauty, spas, laundry, and bakeries are diversifying, signaling structural shifts in the market.
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| Famous franchise brand in Vietnam |
Market Structure and Characteristics
- Food and Beverage (F&B): The overall F&B market reached USD 26.55 billion in 2024, fueled by the growth of delivery services. Local players (e.g., Golden Gate, Goldsun Food) compete with global brands (e.g., KFC, Lotteria), while traditional Vietnamese cuisine like phở and bánh mì poses fierce competition.
- Cafes: As the world’s second-largest coffee producer, Vietnam boasts a vibrant cafe culture dominated by local brands like Highlands Coffee and Trung Nguyen Legend. Global players like Starbucks target premium segments, while Mixue has achieved explosive growth with low-cost strategies.
- Convenience Stores: Approximately 6,720 stores operate nationwide, concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. WinMart+, GS25, and Circle K compete, with localization and service differentiation being critical.
- Retail: Local giants like Co.op Mart and WinMart dominate, while foreign players like Lotte Mart and K-Market compete in niche segments.
- Beauty and Spas: Dominated by small-scale operations, but Korean brands like LeeKaJa Hairbis are introducing K-Beauty. Demand for standardized services is rising, driving competition.
- Bakeries: Korean brands like Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours lead, capitalizing on Vietnam’s breakfast bread culture and local bakeries’ technical limitations.
- Laundry: The commercial laundry market, valued at USD 250 million annually, is growing at 6%, outpacing Asia’s average (3.6%), and is considered a blue ocean.
F&B Franchises: Lessons from Success and Failure
The Born Korea: Bon's Story and Hanoi Luxury Apartment Complex Withdrawals
The Born Korea faced significant challenges in Vietnam:
Bon's Story: Initially popular for its upscale Korean BBQ concept, it struggled against local meat restaurants in price competition, leading to some store closures. In Hanoi’s My Dinh area, high rent and operating costs forced Bon's Story outlets to relocate, though they continue operations.
- Hanoi Luxury Apartment Complex: By April 2025, all The Born Korea brands (Paik's Noodle, Paik's BBQ, Paik's BIBIM, Paik's Coffee, Paik's Pan) in a high-end Hanoi apartment complex’s shopping center withdrew. Post-COVID, high rents and price-sensitive local consumers caused sustained losses. These outlets relied heavily on Korean expatriates’ nostalgia but failed to attract local customers, leading to closures. This underscores The Born Korea’s miscalculation of operating costs in premium locations and local consumer preferences.
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| Paik's kitchen franchise in Hanoi, Vietnam, withdrew all of its stores by April 2025. |
Lotteria: A Tale of Success and Losses
Since entering Vietnam in 1998, Lotteria has grown to 247 stores by 2024, succeeding with localized rice-based menu sets. However, it recorded a loss of VND 126 billion (approximately USD 5 million) in 2024 due to intense competition, rising delivery platform fees, raw material costs, and price wars with local fast-food chains. Despite this, Lotteria maintains brand recognition with affordable pricing compared to phở and is pursuing menu diversification and cost-cutting to recover.
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| LOTTERIA is implementing a pricing strategy that targets even elementary school students. |
Target Audience Challenges
F&B franchises face a dilemma: targeting Korean expatriates limits scalability, while localizing for Vietnamese consumers risks alienating Korean customers. In Hanoi’s My Dinh, fierce competition among Korean restaurants and recipe leaks due to chef turnover are common. Dookki targeting young Vietnamese with lunchtime queues, struggles with high rents and thin margins due to its low-price strategy, attracting few Korean customers.
Success Stories
- Matchandeul BBQ: Popular in Ho Chi Minh’s District 1 and 2 for high-quality aged pork and Korean side dishes, it has become a go-to for locals celebrating special occasions. Success stems from staff training and rigorous ingredient management.
- BBQ Ông mập: Since its 2019 Ho Chi Minh launch, it gained traction with pork skin dishes, expanding nationwide via franchising. Localized flavors drove success, though system consistency remains a challenge.
- Pizza 4P’s: Founded by a Japanese couple, this fusion pizza chain uses fresh local cheese to appeal to young middle-class Vietnamese, surpassing Domino’s, The Pizza Company, and Pizza Hut in reputation and taste.
Local Powerhouses
- Golden Gate: Leads with diverse concepts like GoGi House and Seoul Garden, leveraging capital and localization.
- KFC: Since 1997, it has thrived with localized spicy sauces and rice dishes.
Cafe Franchises: Local Dominance
Vietnam’s coffee culture, rooted in its status as the world’s second-largest coffee producer, favors local brands. Highlands Coffee, with ~600 stores, leads with prime locations, generating VND 4 trillion (USD 160 million) in 2023. Trung Nguyen Legend builds nationwide fame with storytelling and a coffee museum. The Coffee House and Phuc Long leverage mobile apps to capture younger consumers.
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| Highlands Coffee Store |
Starbucks, with ~100 stores by 2024, targets premium segments but struggles against Highlands Coffee due to high prices and cultural barriers. Mixue, however, exploded to 1,000 stores in five years with low-cost milk tea (VND 10,000–20,000), TikTok marketing, and low franchise fees (VND 300–500 million). Korean brands like Gong Cha and Paik's Coffee target K-Cafe niches but lag in scale.
Challenges and Opportunities
Local brands’ dominance creates barriers for foreign cafes, but Starbucks’ condensed milk coffee shows niche potential through localization. Korean brands can differentiate with K-desserts (e.g., bingsu, tteok) and chic interiors.
Convenience Stores and Retail: Niche Success in Fierce Competition
The convenience store market, with ~6,720 stores, is concentrated in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. GS25, reaching 300 stores by 2024, dominates the south with K-pop products, instant ramen stations, and cozy spaces, expanding via royalty-based franchising since 2023. Circle K excels in Hanoi with 24/7 operations, while WinMart+ leads with 2,000+ stores but lacks price competitiveness. 7-Eleven lags with under 100 stores since 2017.
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| GS25 Ho Chi Minh Store |
Challenges and Opportunities
Convenience stores benefit from young consumers’ demand for convenience, but regional regulations and consumer preference gaps pose challenges. K-Market’s niche focus and GS25’s localized products offer models for success. Integrating coin laundry services within convenience stores, as seen in some markets, presents a novel opportunity.
Beauty and Spas: K-Beauty’s Potential
Beauty salons are mostly small-scale, but LeeKaJa Hairbis introduced K-Beauty in Hanoi in 2023, though its 2–3x higher prices met lukewarm local response. Rising demand for standardized services offers opportunities for Korean expertise. Spas, split between massage and skincare, see growing demand for upscale interiors and reliable treatments. Thai and local chains are franchising, but workforce skill and quality control remain hurdles.
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| LEEKAJA, which opened at Lotte West Lake in 2023 |
Challenges and Opportunities
Success hinges on staff training and service consistency. Korean brands can capitalize on K-Beauty academies to train locals and build systematic franchises, mirroring the laundry sector’s low-investment, high-loyalty potential.
Bakeries: Korean Leadership Amid Local Gaps
Korean bakery brands dominate Vietnam’s market. Paris Baguette targets premium segments, while Tous Les Jours, with ~70 stores, enjoys mass appeal. Vietnam’s breakfast bread culture drives demand, but local bakeries lag in quality, giving Korean brands an edge with soft textures and high standards.
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| Bread Factory, Hanoi Store |
Challenges and Opportunities
Pricing and localized menus (e.g., condensed milk bread) are key. Korean brands can pursue mass-market growth with affordable, local-inspired offerings.
Laundry Business: A Prime Investment Opportunity
The laundry sector is a blue ocean in Vietnam, ripe for investment due to several factors:
Low Competition
Unlike F&B or cafes, laundry franchises face minimal competition. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh’s apartment complexes, cafes, salons, and marts abound, but laundromats are scarce, signaling an unsaturated market.
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| As of 2024, local laundry shops account for over 17,517 out of 18,245 total laundry businesses. |
Rising Demand
Urbanization and lifestyle shifts are driving demand for professional laundry services. In 2022, the USD 250 million commercial laundry market grew at 6%, surpassing Asia’s 3.6% average. Of 15,316 laundry shops nationwide, over 60% opened between 2020 and 2022, mostly small-scale, highlighting opportunities for systematic franchises.
High Scalability
Laundry businesses require minimal skilled labor or complex systems, enabling rapid expansion. Wash Friends offers unmanned premium systems with quick ROI, while Joins Pro (Chanté), operated by Masan Group, showcases self-service potential. Heramo’s app-based delivery model, Giặt Sấy Sell, and Giặt Là Sạch Cộng focus on low-cost, community-driven services. K-Market-linked Korean laundromats target expatriates in Hanoi’s upscale areas with premium offerings.
Broad Target Appeal
Unlike F&B or spas, which depend on personal taste, laundry services are chosen for reliability and safety, appealing to all demographics. With smaller price gaps between local and foreign providers compared to other sectors, localization is easier. Premium services may cost more, but flexible pricing and targeting enhance viability.
By. 25.Feb) The Success Story of Wash Friends' Store in Ho Chi Minh City
Key Strategies for Success
To thrive in Vietnam’s franchise market, brands must adopt these strategies:
- Localization Excellence
Menus, pricing, and marketing must align with local culture and consumer habits. Lotteria’s rice sets and Pizza 4P’s local cheese are prime examples. Regional strategies—catering to northern preferences for lighter flavors and southern sweet tastes—are essential. - Value-Based Pricing
Vietnamese consumers are price-sensitive. Mixue’s low-cost model and K-Market’s value-driven products resonate, while premium brands like Starbucks must justify costs with clear brand value. - Strategic Partnerships
Local partners, like GS25’s Son Kim Group collaboration, aid in securing locations and navigating regulations. Building networks across northern, central, and southern regions is critical. - Digital Integration
Over 20% of consumers use delivery apps 3–4 times weekly, and Gen Z favors contactless services. Mobile ordering, kiosks, and viral TikTok/Facebook marketing, paired with POS and logistics systems, boost responsiveness. - Workforce Training & Standardization
Structured training enhances franchisee staff capabilities, and service manuals ensure consistent quality. Matchandeul’s training system and GS25’s standardization drive success.
Conclusion: A Market of Opportunities for the Prepared
Vietnam’s franchise market, expanding beyond F&B, cafes, and bakeries to blue oceans like laundry, has solidified its status as a key ASEAN hub. The Born Korea’s full withdrawal from Hanoi’s luxury apartment complex and Bon's Story’s relocations highlight the risks of localization failures and high costs. Lotteria’s VND 126 billion (USD 5 million) loss in 2024 reflects fierce competition. Conversely, Matchandeul, Mixue, and GS25 thrive by deeply understanding and adapting to local consumers. Notably, even South Korea’s top delivery app, Baemin, withdrew early after failing to compete with Grab, underscoring that even major players falter without thorough preparation. Localization is not optional—it’s the cornerstone of survival and growth in global markets.
