Singapore’s Sakae Sushi (sakae means “growth” in Japanese, although the name was chosen for its similarity to “sake,” a word familiar to people around the word) now has 60 outlets in seven Asian countries and in January expanded its reach to the U.S., opening its 61 st shop in the iconic Chrysler Building in midtown Manhattan. Foo has signed a lease on his second U.S. outlet, in Greenwich Village near New York University, and is negotiating leases on three more sites in New York. The plan is for an additional 200 outlets worldwide over the next six years, to give Sakae Sushi a global brand name.
“When you think about coffee, you think about Starbucks. When you think about hamburgers, you think of McDonald’s When you think of chicken, you think of KFC,” he says. “We want to be the Starbucks of sushi. We want to be everywhere.”