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Dec, 22 2009

The Pizza Company : Pick your flavour

In 1981, The Pizza Company, a part of Minor International's (MINT) Minor Food Group - Thailand's largest food service operator of companies, was founded to bring the first international pizza experience. In early 2001, the company made its market debut in

In 1981, The Pizza Company, a part of Minor International's (MINT) Minor Food Group - Thailand's largest food service operator of companies, was founded to bring the first international pizza experience. In early 2001, the company made its market debut in Thailand against a pizza brand that it had previously built into the national leader with a market share of over 95 per cent. After its launch in its own country/market, The Pizza Company became the market leader in the dine-in and delivery segments.

Crusty offerings

Being recognized as a specialist in baking delicious pizzas, The Pizza Company offers wide variety of crust types and toppings. And besides this, it offers freshly cooked pasta from its pasta station where consumers can choose from its tasty pasta menu or simply ask for their favourite combination of pasta and sauces for its chef to cook it right there. Also, the menu offers a wide variety of appetizers, salads, deserts and drinks, making every pizza and pasta experience a memorable meal.

Customising the menu

The Pizza Company is of the view that a brand should always remain a consistent point of reference for consumers, so it does not plan to modify the core brand proposition. However, it recognises the need to adapt the menu. For instance - In the Middle East, the company’s menu is 100 per cent Halal and it offers products, which are not a part of its core Thailand menu. Similar adjustments are made for other markets such as China, where it adapted the menu to suit the local tastes and lifestyles. However, the company retains the core menu identity as the Pizza and Pasta restaurant.

Eyeing expansion in India

On zeroing in on Indian market, Gary T. Moore of The Pizza Company believes, “India represents an incredible growth opportunity for retail restaurant brands. Scaling up your system to deliver the right menu with consistent quality of food and service is the key challenge. Our goal is to franchise with local groups, who can demonstrate a keen understanding of the local market environment and the capability to operate at international levels across a broad geographic area.”

Adding more, Moore says, “We want to open in 2010 and are actively looking for strong, capable franchise partners.”

Franchising – the best option

With over 20 years of experience in pioneering Italian food concepts in Asia, the company began its franchise operations in 2003 on an individual outlet basis to operators in Thailand and on a territorial basis in other markets. After successfully launching TPC in Thailand, the company started receiving franchise requests from both local and international markets.

During the last five years, the company has put together a team of dedicated professionals to drive the business model of franchising. As an experienced operator as well as a franchisee and franchisor for multiple brands, the company’s management team has seen the very best of operating systems around the globe and has distilled that knowledge into creating a solid operating platform for the Pizza Company. Through detailed operating manuals, training systems and standardisation of equipment, ingredients and all items, which go into the making up of a final product, the company has developed a strong knowledge transfer process to enable its franchisees to quickly and efficiently gain capability in operating the brands.

Product in place

TPC has established a network of approved suppliers for all ingredients. Each supplier is audited regularly for compliance on specifications. On this, Moore clarifies, “We maintain a competitive pricing policy, whereby more than one supplier is approved for quotation on orders to franchisees. This keeps suppliers on their toes as regards to cost and ensures that our franchisees get the correct specification of ingredients and equipment.”

Aggressive growth plans

“The competitive environment in India is very strong with most of the international brands already here. We believe that there is room for growth and that penetration levels are still fairly low. However, we compete head to head in most other markets with well-developed competitors and believe that we have a winning consumer proposition based on clearly superior food quality, which is available at competitive prices,” says Moore.

Currently, the company operates over 250 restaurants, including 200 company-owned and 50 franchised, in Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, China and Cambodia.

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