Chinese fast-food chain Chamate said it is considering an initial public offering in the United States, as it aims to boost revenues 52 percent a year.
Chamate also plans to increase the number of its outlets five-fold to 250 by 2011, from about 50 now, which would help propel sales, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Chan said in an interview late on Thursday.
The movie Supersize Me has probably had more of an effect than the producers anticipated. Since then, in the fast food industry, there has been a market trend promoting menu items that appear to be healthy. But most of these menu items have ingredients that health conscious consumers would prefer to avoid. Most health conscious consumers consider healthy foods to be things like raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds, and clean meats like wild Alaskan salmon, or free-range chicken or turkey. Some ingredients that health conscious consumers consider unacceptable are MSG (or free glutamate, or free glutamic acid, including anything hydrolyzed or autolyzed), trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils [3]), artificial colors, artificial flavors, and most preservatives. [From Surprise Ingredients In Fast Food]
