Greenwich wants more of the local market

Being the biggest with 234 pizza stores nationwide is not enough for Greenwich Pizza Corp. It wants to establish its presence in almost every corner of the Philippines and open stores in selected locations overseas.

"We are the largest in terms of network of stores. We are bigger than Pizza Hut and Shakey’s combined. We are proud to say we have been leading the way in growing the local pizza market. As such, we can claim credit for having educated the Filipino how to make pizza a good alternative for rice meals, although that is not really our objective," said Greenwich Pizza Corp. marketing director Cherry C. Caluya.

"If our mother company, Jollibee Foods Corp. has 500 stores and still growing, then there is as much, if not more, business opportunities for us," Caluya said.

In 2005, Greenwich had 60 percent of the local pizza market, which is estimated currently at P5 billion to P6 billion.

The market of Greenwich is basically the A, B and broad C and D segments although the food firm expects more growth to be coming from the C and D market because of its planned launch of the single pizza slice marketing approach.

"We realize that a lot of individuals, mostly those malling alone, want to eat pizza but can not have the entire box. They just want to munch one piece while walking in the mall or window shopping or even watching a movie. This is why we decided to come up with the solo pizza to be launched this month or early next month," explained Luis U. Velasco III, Point of Access Manager of Greenwich.

The pizza market is basically the young ones, college students, the young working adults and yuppies who want to eat fast and have a lot of time to do other things, Caluya said

Greenwich was acquired by Jollibee Foods Corp. in 1994 from a family corporation which started it 34 years ago. But the family corporation maintained partnership with JFC by keeping some franchised stores for itself.

"For 2006, Greenwich plans to put 15 to 20 more stores in Metro Manila but more for the provinces, where its presence"in comparison with sister companies in the JFC family– is still wanting.

Greenwich prides itself for being the innovator and trailblazer. It was first to launch in 2001 the thermal bag with heated plate to keep the pizza hot in transit until it reaches the customer. It was also this year when it innovated on the delivery system for Greenwich products. Now the delivery service accounts for 10 to 15 percent of total business revenues for Greenwich, Velasco said.

After Greenwich launched its thermal bag in delivery service, soon after other pizza companies copied it, Velasco added.

In terms of total store network offering delivery service, Greenwich also has the largest with 103 in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, most recent of which is Cavite which launched this service last Feb.3, 2006.

"In the provinces, we are still developing the delivery business. It is not yet that strong because people have time in the provinces to go to the stores since traffic is not as bad. Besides, going to pizza and malling is still the single biggest leisure hour of people in the province," explained Anne Michelle T. Pador, marketing and PR/Customer Affairs officer.

The most exciting provincial markets in terms of delivery service are still Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Baguio and Zamboanga.

In Metro Manila, there is only one number to dial: 819-4000 but in Cebu it is 254-1000 in Davao, 225-1000 and in Baguio 446-6000, Velasco said.

Greenwich was first to introduce in April 2005 the "Siguradong On time" campaign, with late deliveries entitling the customer to freebies. Other companies adopted this campaign and late deliveries entitle the customer to have the pizza for free as a result of which clients are keenly awaiting late deliveries.

It also introduced the pizza squares where customers in groups, who can’t decide what flavor to get, can order different flavors for 16 slices and be charged one rate for this order. This is currently the bestseller among its products.

Recently, Greenwich launched its Pizza Padala to enable Filipinos in America and Canada to send to their loved ones here, via the Internet and using their credit cards as payment, pizza for special occasions. Soon this will be expanded to other countries with heavy Filipino presence.

Caluya said Greenwich has been bestowed a Superbrand status for its quality products/services, marketing promotions and value for money; and its strong hold in consumer preference especially among the youth and its solid franchising.

Though Greenwich is part of the Jollibee family, sharing the commissaries and other network of JFC, Greenwich personnel have taken it upon themselves to excel in the business and grow it even bigger because "we have to prove that we can do it alone," Caluya said.

At Greenwich, pizza is still the main product accounting for 50 percent of revenues followed by pasta (lasagna, carbonara, baked macaroni, and spaghetti) and rice melts and chicken with rice, sharing almost equally.

Late last year, Greenwich launched its Ka-g program, designed to track its loyal followers or suki offering them freebies for the month or discounts, depending on the discretion of the stores.

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Greenwich Foods Corp.

5F Jollibee Center, San Miguel Avenue,

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Tel : 636-1111