Max's Restaurant sets up Cebu commissary facility

Despite the proliferation of Chicken-based restaurants and fast foods, Max's Restaurant chain is bullish in Cebu and the rest of Southern Philippines market, driving the company to set a commissary facility in Cebu.

"Cebu has more potential for more than two outlets. We want also to penetrate the Visayas and Mindanao markets," said Max's Franchising Inc., president Robert F. Trota in an interview.

Currently, Max's Restaurant has two outlets in Cebu, one in Ayala Center, and in SM City Cebu.

Last week, the company completed its commissary facility in Cebu, to service its expansion move in the Visayas and Mindanao.

According to Trota, the company targets to open at least 10 outlets every year. This year about six more Max's Restaurant will be opened in Luzon, another four will be opened in Visayas and Mindanao areas.

However, he said that this plan might be changed, as the Luzon market is quite saturated already, while the Southern Philippines still has a lot of fertile grounds to offer for expansion.

Currently, the company is doing finishing touches of its new commissary facility in Cebu. Hopefully, in the next few months, Max's Restaurant will be able to open more branches in Cebu, and in other areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Of the 117 Max's Restaurant outlets all over the country, 52 of which are run by franchisees, while 65 are company-owned. The future VisMin outlets on the other hand, will likely be offered to interested franchisees.

Max's Restaurant, one of the country's largest chains in the fast-casual dining category, is a 61-year-old company installed by Trota's family.

The company is offering a franchise fee of P3 million. A restaurant with an accommodation of 80 to 100 people would cost a franchisee a total investment of P12 million to P14 million, which already includes the franchise fee.

Max's Restaurant is present in some key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao, such as Bacolod City, Iloilo City, and Cagayan de Oro City.

"We are looking at opening branches in Tacloban City, Zamboanga, and Boracay," he said.

Max's Restaurant is not only successful in its home ground, but it continues to find opportunities for overseas expansion.

There are six Max's Restaurants in the United States, two of which are managed by the company. Another five outlets are located in California, and recently, a Hawaii-outlet was opened.

Trota said Filipino-owned restaurants like Max's have good opportunities in the West coast because 60 percent of the 3.5 million US-based Filipinos are residing in this area.

Trota also bared the company's plan to enter the China market, to capture the growing 1.2 billion potential consumers.

However, he said the company is taking extra careful steps in entering the China market, thus the idea of getting a master-franchisee is highly recommendable.

He stressed while China is a "market to watch" the potential is there. But the company still has to explore feasibility studies and wide knowledge of the China market first.

Jollibee recently opened its China outlet. Trota said Max's will be learning from the experience of Jollibee there, after which the company will then decide if China is worth for expansion investment this time.