Add to that, Greenwich is offering at all its outlets the 200 Treat pizza, a square pizza combo of Greenwich Special, Pizza Italia, Garden Fresh and ham and cheese.
"The centerpiece of the occasion is the blessing of our 200th store," says Greenwich general manager Maria Regina B. Navarrete. "However, we would like the whole Greenwich family to be part of the occasion. That is why we’re offering this special pizza."
The 200-pizza event has been dubbed a "pizza pageant," and the pizzas will be competing in a taste challenge to be judged by gourmets and food experts. Aside from cash prizes, the winning pizzas will form part of Greenwich’s product development process, where they will be tried, tested and tasted for possible inclusion in the pizza chain’s menu of pizza flavors.
This idea of continuing innovative product development has been the vision behind the management of the pizza chain. Navarrete has introduced a number of improvements in Greenwich’s product line that has made the restaurant well-rounded.
Apart from its menu of pizzas, it now has chicken meals, a baked rice melt line and a selection of pasta dishes. Rather than limit diners to a selection of pizzas, the restaurant now caters to the food whims of the barkada and the whole family.
Although Greenwich is lower-priced than most popular pizza chains, many consumers mention the pizza fast food chain in the same breath as Shakey’s and Pizza Hut.
"Many people still have the perception that pizzas are expensive, that it is something you don’t eat every day," she explains. "That’s something Greenwich has been addressing all the time."
Greenwich’s 200th store is a big achievement for this pizza fast food chain. When burger giant Jollibee acquired the pizza firm in 1994 from entrepreneur Cresida Tueres, who founded the chain as an over-the-counter outlet in Greenhills in 1971, the chain already had 50 branches in the country.
Tueres envisioned Greenwich to be the leading pizza chain in the country, a status it achieved in 1998 when it was ranked number one among pizza-pasta food chains in the country.
It recorded its 100th store in 1997 when Greenwich opened a branch in Fairview Regalado. Six years later, it is now doubling this figure with its 200th branch along T. M. Kalaw Ave. It has 96 stores in Metro Manila, 18 in the Visayas and another 20 in Mindanao.
And there is still room for growth. Navarrete says they are now looking at 500 stores in 10 years.
"When we opened our 99th store in Dumaguete last month, we were overwhelmed by the response we got," she explains.
As Greenwich expands and intensifies its presence on the market, it will continue to push the pizza as an alternative main meal for rice dishes.
"Many still look at pizzas as a merienda product," Navarrete says. "We still think that all main meals should have rice. This time around, we want to educate the market that pizzas are also suitable for main meals."
Pizza meals are priced as low as P40 for the ham and cheese solo value treat that comes with a drink. Those looking for a filling pizza should go for the thick-crust Primo line of pizzas.
Print and media advertising has helped greatly in informing the public about Greenwich’s line of items.
"Many diners actually come to our store wanting to try some new food product they saw advertised in the papers and on television," she says.
Recent additions to Greenwich’s menu are side dishes that diners will enjoy. The mushroom soup is the perfect partner for any pizza meal, or a quick pick-upper for those who want something hot and light on a busy day. Also available are Nachoritos, Pizzadilla, Potatostiks and Garlix Stix. A dessert selection has also been developed, including the brownie a la mode, mango crush with ice cream and nata de coco and the sundae spin.
Navarrete says she doesn’t think Greenwich will have a hard time reorienting Filipino diners to reconsider pizzas as meals in themselves now that they have more sophisticated taste buds.
"The tastes of Filipino consumers have changed," she explains. "As Filipinos mature, they look for more sophisticated flavors, a point we considered when rethinking some of our popular items. When we improved our baked macaroni, we added more ham and more cheese and developed the pour-over sauce."
"As new players come to the fore, this educates the taste buds of Filipino diners," she adds. "They are now more adventurous, seeking foods that have a better play on the tongue."
If Greenwich does strike a goldmine in its pizza pageant of 200 pizza varieties, future lunches will never look the same, since we will all be spoiled for choices.