Bigger slice of the market

Philippine Pizza Inc. came out with its new strategic direction during the opening of its 100th Pizza Hut outlet in Luisita mall two Saturdays ago.

"We are shedding our fastfood image and veering towards a casual dine-in restaurant business. Our patrons have showed us their preference for having not just good food served fast and efficiently but also for a place where they can relax and enjoy their meals with friends and kin," said chief operating officer Lars Petersen.

The Luisita-based Pizza Hut dine-in restaurant will be the model for the 99 other outlets nationwide. Hand-in-hand with the renovation–conservatively placed at P1 million per store–is the establishment of 20 to 25 restaurants a year for the next five years.

Right now, 60% of the chain’s outlets are located in Metro Manila. Together, Visayas and Mindanao account for 12 stores.

Market segments

Over the past four years or about the time Petersen was appointed COO, Philippine Pizza generated annual revenue growth of 25%, half of which came from new stores.

The strength of Philippine Pizza’s operation lies in its market segmentation–dine-in, take out and delivery–which equally contribute to the bottom line.

"One of the reasons why our delivery service clicked was the easy consumer recall of our telephone number, 911-1111. Unlike our competitors which subcontract that side of the business, we operate our own computerized call centers. That’s one less layer between the person making the call and the branch nearest the caller which does the actual delivery," said Petersen.

Considered the biggest pizza company in the country, Philippine Pizza takes its competitors seriously. "In the dine-in segment, Shakey’s is a competitor. In the take out and delivery segments, there are Greenwich, Little Ceasars and Dominos," said Petersen.

Philippine Pizza bought the Philippine Pizza Hut franchise from Yum! Brands Inc. of America. Started in 1958 by two Kansas-based students with a $600 million from their mother, Pizza Hut is the largest pizza chain in the world with 8,000 restaurants in the United States alone and 4,000 more outlets in 100 countries.