Japanese noodle restaurant operator Toridoll Holdings plans to open 50 outlets in Myanmar with a local joint venture partner.

The Myanmar noodle restaurants, in partnership with YKKO, will target the nation’s growing middle class.

The first has already opened in Yangon, selling bowls of noodles for as little as US48 cents, with serving sizes to suit budgets and appetites. Ingredients are sourced locally and from neighbouring Thailand to minimise overheads.

Toridoll, based in Kobe, already operates about 900 eateries in Japan and another 380 across 30 offshore markets, including Vietnam, the Philippines, China, Cambodia and Indonesia. Japan’s perpetually shrinking population has prompted the company to look abroad for growth – it has ambitious plans to operate 4000 restaurants abroad in 2025.

Meanwhile,

YKKO is an abbreviation of its the name of its first restaurant, Kyay-Oh, which opened in Yankin.