Retail News CRM

Category: Food

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Food and Food & Beverage news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Supermarkets in HCM City gear up for Lunar New Year

    Supermarkets in HCM City gear up for Lunar New Year

    Many supermarkets are launching attractive promotion programmes in the days ahead of Tết (Lunar New Year) to attract customers. Tết falls on February 16 this year.

    In addition to cutting prices on more than 5,000 essential items from January 11 to February 14, Co.opmart and Co.opXtra have teamed up with suppliers for another programme under which they will cut prices of many kinds of fresh food by the maximum possible rates for seven days starting just before Tết.

    They have also applied “Super discounts” and “Buy more, get more discounts” on the weekend and incentive programmes for their loyal customers such as offering high reward points.

    Similarly, Korean retailer Lotte Mart also launched three consecutive promotion programmes: The “Tết comes to Lotte Mart” programme takes place from January 24 to February 15, with discounts between 5-49 per cent on more than 1,200 products; “For a full Tết” from February 7 to 15 with discounts on over 80 Tết-featured products; and “Starting a desired spring” programme from February 13 to 21 with hundreds of products discounted between 5-49 per cent.

    Supermarket chain Big C is offering a discount of up to 40 per cent on 13 types of fruit. Imported fruits like Egyptian oranges, Korean pears, French kiwis and South African grapes are priced at VNĐ30,000-83,000 (US$1.32-3.64) for a kilo until February 15.

    Moreover, for the first time, French and US green and red apples will be sold at the same price of VNĐ29,900 a kilo.

    In addition to this, Big C will launch two “unprecedented price shock” programmes applicable to its food and fresh goods until New Year’s Eve on February 15.

    According to insiders, the closer to Tết, retailers increasing apply promotion programmes to enhance competitiveness in attracting customers.

    Market movements in the peak shopping days for Tết usually change quickly. Therefore, retailers need to keep a close eye on up-to-date figures to identify changes for timely responses.

    Wholesale markets

    Goods transported to the city’s two wholesales markets have increased strongly to meet peak shopping demand for the New Year from February 11 to 15.

    Nguyễn Văn Huây, director of Thủ Đức Wholesale Market Management and Trade Company, said goods volume entering the market can reach up to 7,500 tonnes a day, an increase of 10 per cent over last year’s Tết.

    Vegetable volume at the market fluctuates between 2,700 tonnes to 3,000 tonnes a day, while fruits are between 4,300-4,500 tonnes a day.

    At Hóc Môn wholesale market, the amount of goods entering the market from February 12 (four days ahead of Tết) may go up to 5,500 tonnes per day, up 100 per cent compared to normal days.

    According to traders at the two wholesales markets, the supply of popular fruits for Tet such as grapefruits, mangos, tangerines and dragon fruits may be not much higher due to unfavourable weather last year.

    About 150-170 tonnes of grapefruits and 100-120 tonnes of mango are expected to enter Thủ Đức Market a day on days near Tết, but their prices will rise sharply if there is a surge in demand.

    Thủ Đức Wholesale Market’s management board forecasted that grapefruits can be priced at VNĐ60,000-65,000 per kilo for green skin grapefruit and VNĐ28,000-30,000 a kilo for Năm Roi grapefruit, while it is VNĐ130,000-150,000 for a kilo of Hòa Lộc mango, VNĐ45,000-50,000 per kilo of sweet tangerine and VNĐ80,000-100,000 per kilo of custard-apple.

    Nguyễn Huỳnh Trang, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, has asked the management boards of the two wholesale markets to keep track of markets and update supply-demand and pricing situations, in order to quickly report to the department and relevant agencies if there is a sudden fluctuation.

     

    Lees ook:

  • Japan’s fast food rivalry heating up

    Japan’s fast food rivalry heating up

    McDonald’s Japan plans to open more stores this year, its first expansion in a decade.

    At the same time, rival Burger King is working on tripling its Japanese locations to 300 by 2022 at a cost of ¥5 billion (US$45.5 million).

    With a 4.5-fold increase in group net profit last year, McDonald’s Holdings logged a record ¥24 billion. It aims to open 150 to 200 locations in the next three years. With closures taken into account, it expects a net increase of about 100.

    “Over the past several years we were focusing on optimising our store portfolio,” says president Sarah Casanova. “Now it is time to look to opportunities to grow with new restaurants.”

    Following a peak in 2002, the number of McDonald’s locations in Japan has been declining. The chain now has 2900 outlets, a drop of about 1000.

    The turnaround for the burger market is mainly because of record numbers of tourists in Japan, 28.6 million last year.

    Burger King Japan plans to open most of its 200 new restaurants in cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Target locations include shopping-centre food courts and suburban sites with room for a drive-through. A home-delivery service will be offered to counter the move last year by McDonald’s Japan to partner with Uber Eats.

    After a slump, Burger King left Japan in 2001, returning in 2007. Its current expansion drive follows a Hong Kong investment fund acquiring the Japan rights from Burger King. It is also revamping its product lineup.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Greyhound Cafe plan to open more stores abroad

    Greyhound Cafe plan to open more stores abroad

    Nadim Xavier Salhani, the man behind US franchises Au Bon Pain, Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins in Thailand, aims now to expand the group’s Greyhound Cafe brand abroad. Greyhound, which has 17 cafes in Thailand and 18 franchises overseas including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, is also planning more acquisitions.

    Already, the company has invested THB150 million (US$4.7 million) to open a 192-seat Greyhound Cafe in London’s Soho district, and has also acquired the 300-year-old Grand Vefour, a Michelin two-star fine-dining restaurant in Paris.

    “We are planning to develop more projects in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok in the French brasserie restaurant style, at a cost of 40 to 60 million baht each,” Salhani says.

    Meanwhile, he plans to open 12 Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee concept branches this year, including the brand’s first drive-through in Ayutthaya this June. There are also plans to open five Au Bon Pain and five Baskin Robbins outlets this year, taking the total to 300 branches for Baskin Robbins, 80 for Dunkin Donuts and 40 for Au Bon Pain.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Dairy Farm to have more shares in pharmacy

    Dairy Farm to have more shares in pharmacy

    Hong Kong retail giant Dairy Farm has received official approval to increase its stake in Philippine drugstore chain Rose Pharmacy.

    It is doing this through its European investment vehicle Mulgrave Corporation, which has received the nod from the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI). It seeks to raise its shareholding in Cebu-based Rose Pharmacy from 49 to 51 per cent. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

    Rose Pharmacy has 252 pharmacies nationwide.

    Trade undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo says that aside from increasing its stake in Rose Pharmacy, Mulgrave also plans acquisitions and to expand retail outlets.

    Based in Amsterdam, Mulgrave Corporation runs supermarkets through a subsidiary. In turn, Mulgrave is a subsidiary of Dairy Farm International Holdings.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Amazon unveiled its plans for Whole Foods

    Amazon unveiled its plans for Whole Foods

    Ever since Amazon spent $13.7 billion on Whole Foods in June 2017, theories have been swirling as to why the world’s biggest e-commerce firm would get into the old-time business of selling groceries in stores.

    Now it is becoming clearer that what Amazon really wanted was a slice of real estate closer to consumers, to get goods faster to them than ever.

    The clearest signal so far: Amazon announced Thursday that people subscribing to its Prime service in four major U.S. cities (Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia) can get groceries from Whole Foods delivered within just two hours of placing an order, for free. They’ll be able to order fresh meat, seafood, flowers and “most” of the items stocked in their local Whole Foods outlets, the company says.

    That means you could theoretically eat lunch, and then order your dinner ingredients on the same day.

    The move could have far-reaching consequences once Amazon begins introducing speedy delivery from other Whole Foods outlets across the world, raising consumer expectations and putting pressure on other grocers to offer the same kind of shipments too.

    In one movement, Amazon has also taken the so-called “last mile” delivery problem it’s been trying to solve with one-day deliveries on Prime, and flipped it on its head.

    Instead of driving goods to your house from a vast warehouse on the edge of the city, it’s bringing them direct from main street; with an order being processed just down the road, the last mile is now the “first mile.”

    For now, this applies to the groceries that are traditionally available in Whole Foods. But some in the e-commerce industry believe Amazon has been planning to seriously restructure Whole Foods stores, sectioning off areas that it can turn into miniature versions of its highly-automated warehouses.

    That could allow Prime customers to not only receive Whole Foods fresh fish and veg, but popular household items like toothpaste and baby diapers.

    Amazon wants to build a distributed supply chain, says Elram Goren, who runs CommonSense Robotics, an Israeli startup selling automated-warehouse technology to rival grocery chains, and to be “close to their customers.”

    While that might seem like a threat to other grocers, Goren contends that Amazon is setting an example those competitors can follow too. That is, if they’re willing to make radical changes to the way they use their stores, and also turn sections of them into “micro-fulfilment centers.”

    “For a very long time, e-commerce was growing extremely fast and companies like Walmart, Kroger or Albertsons, didn’t really have have any kind of strategic advantage over Amazon,” he adds.

    “But with online groceries they have that infrastructure. Think of a store. It already has a supply chain coming in, and it is by definition close to the customer.”

    Tom Adeyoola, who founded the British e-commerce startup Metail, agrees retailers need to embark on a “big change in mindset,” and take advantage of the fact that their stores are physically closer to customers than Amazon’s warehouses.

    “If you could have a big store footprint, how can you turn that into a fulfilment center?” he says. Companies with a trusted logistics model and reliable delivery service could have the most success, he adds.

    Amidst a so-called retail apocalypse that’s swallowing up storied retailers like JCPenney and Toys R’ Us, that could be a model worth thinking about.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Cold Stone Creamery Malaysia Opened In Kuala Lumpur

    Cold Stone Creamery Malaysia Opened In Kuala Lumpur

    American ice-cream parlour chain Cold Stone Creamery Malaysia has opened its first store in Kuala Lumpur.

    After tracking through Bangkok, Manila and Singapore, the American ice-cream parlour chain has launched a flagship outlet at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

    From Arizona, the brand plans to open 10 outlets in Malaysia within the next five years.

    Founded in 1988, Cold Stone Creamery is best known for its design-your-own desserts that lets customers choose mix-ins, all theatrically combined on a frozen granite slab.

    The store offers 36 ice-cream flavours and will be adding some local tastes.

    Cold Stone Creamery senior international VP Eddy Jimenez says Malaysia’s opening was delayed as the company took years to find a suitable franchisee.

    “Local flavours are important and we are very sensitive to the local culture ‒ they’re going to be a big part of the brand,” says Jimenez.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • PastaMania Myanmar Opens Second Branch in Yangon

    PastaMania Myanmar Opens Second Branch in Yangon

    PastaMania Myanmar will open a branch in Yangon’s Capital Hypermarket Extension Mall on February 27.

    From Singapore, the Italian casual-dining restaurant chain has more than 50 outlets in 14 countries.

    “This PastaMania outlet design is based on Italy’s piazza concept to create the ambience of an Italian city square, says executive director Wilson Lim of Singapore’s Commonwealth Capital Group, which run PastaMania.

    This is the second Yangon outlet for PastaMania, the first opening on Inya Road in February 2016.

    Two more outlets are planned over the next year in Yangon.

    Lees ook:

  • Arabica Coffee Opens in the Philippines

    Arabica Coffee Opens in the Philippines

    After nearly a year of planning, Kyoto’s % Arabica Coffee has opened its first store for the Philippines.

    It is in Manila’s Bonifacio Global City and is the result of the efforts of a mother-and-daughter team that has been travelling around the world looking for the best coffee spots. Allue Hortazela says she and her mother could not forget the taste of % Arabica, prompting her to return to the Kyoto main branch of % Arabica to contact the owner with the hope of launching a branch in the Philippines.

    Founded in 2014 by Kenneth Shoji, % Arabica uses 100 per cent Arabica coffee beans sourced internationally from countries such as Brazil, Guatemala and Japan.

    To support the opening of the Manila branch, % Arabica global and Kyoto head barista Junichi Yamaguchi flew from Japan to oversee the crafting of coffee for every customer.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Vietnam talks trade promotion in tough markets

    Vietnam talks trade promotion in tough markets

    Trade promotion in Việt Nam is facing many difficulties as many importers, such as the US, China, Japan and the European Union, were now protecting their own farm production.

    Trần Văn Công, deputy director of the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), made the statement at a trade counsellors’ meeting in Hà Nội on February 8 to discuss strategies for enhancing farm exports.

    The agricultural sector targeted a growth rate of about 3 per cent and export revenues of US$40 billion in 2018.

    The quality and food safety standards in these countries have become stricter. As a result, it took more time, five to seven years on average, for Việt Nam to negotiate with them to open markets for farm produce, according to Công.

    Công said in 2018, the agricultural sector would work to enhance market analysis and forecast capacity to ensure smooth consumption of farm produce and increase the marketing of key Vietnamese products in big and potential markets.

    It would also tighten links with domestic and foreign agricultural businesses, remove technical barriers and solve payment difficulties for exports to Africa and the Middle East.

    Agricultural Minister, Nguyễn Xuân Cường, said that as Việt Nam’s farm production had surpassed demand, the task was to maximise global markets and produce farm products of the highest quality.

    Trade counsellor in Japan, Tạ Đức Minh, said Japanese people highly valued many Vietnamese farm products, particularly mangoes and bananas.

    The shipment of the first chicken meat to Japan also proved that Vietnamese products satisfied the demanding market. However, he noted, export prices were still high, especially for fruits, since they spoiled easily and shipment costs were high. He asked for solutions to reduce shipment cost in order to boost Vietnamese products’ competitiveness.

    Meanwhile, trade counsellor to Australia, Nguyễn Hoàng Thuý, said the opening of the southern market was a long and difficult process. For example, it took up to 12 years for lychees to enter this market. Therefore, she said, it was necessary to hasten negotiations.

    She said there was a need for better co-ordination between the ministry and the trade office to promote negotiations.

    Minister Cường also asked trade counsellors to not only promote trade, but to also provide more information on technology, culture and market trends, which he said was crucial for the agricultural sector to expand markets.

    Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoàng Quốc Vượng asked the MARD to co-operate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s departments in expanding markets and organising exhibitions.

    Vượng asked trade counsellors to provide information regularly. They should also regularly share market information with each other.

    He said they should also study new technologies and help introduce them to Vietnamese firms handling agricultural products.

    Aquatic exports

    On the sideline of the trade counsellers’ meeting, Trade Counsellor to Russia Dương Hoàng Minh said that more Vietnamese businesses may soon be allowed to export aquatic products to Russia this year after a Russian working group made a fact-finding tour of Vietnamese exporters.

    Minh said Việt Nam’s trade office in Russia had earlier held a working session with local agencies. The move was made after Việt Nam was given a “yellow card” warning by the European Commission last September for failing to fight illegal fishing, which could lead to a drop in aquatic exports to the EU and other markets.

    The counsellor said exports to Russia had encountered difficulties since the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which it is a member, limited aquatic product imports.

    Currently, only 21 Vietnamese companies are allowed to ship products to Russia. However, he said there were more than 500 Vietnamese businesses eligible to export to the EU and other demanding markets at present.

    Therefore, the trade office of Việt Nam in Russia has worked with the MARD to persuade Russian agencies to lift barriers to Vietnamese aquatic products.

    It also invited relevant agencies of Russia and the EAEU to make fact-finding tours to Việt Nam in an effort to have more companies be allowed to ship aquatic products to these markets, Minh added.

    In 2017, Việt Nam exported $2.2 billion worth of goods to Russia, up 35 per cent year on year. Commodities with high export growth included vegetables, fruits, cashew nuts, textiles-garments, wood products, machinery and spare parts.

    The counsellor said the Vietnamese trade office in Russia will now focus on helping businesses boost shipments to capitalise on the Việt Nam-EAEU Free Trade Agreement.

    It will also continue working to understand regulations and commitments in the World Trade Organisation and free trade agreements, as well as possible trade barriers.

     

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Quick Serve to expand Texas Chicken in Indonesia

    Quick Serve to expand Texas Chicken in Indonesia

    Quick Serve Indonesia, the new franchisee for US quick-service chicken chain Texas Chicken, has launched its first two stores.

    The first is in Surabaya, East Java, in the Tunjungan Plaza 3 (TP3), with a second a signature stand-alone restaurant in Kertajaya, East Java. The two-storey restaurant seats 175 guests.

    As well as items from Texas Chicken’s international menu, the two outlets offer chicken and rice dishes with international and Asian sauces.

    “The Surabaya location is in a culinary hub for our region, which gives the brand an opportunity to solidify its base in Indonesia,” says Quick Serve Indonesia MD Julius Evan Kritianto.

    Texas Chicken already has 60 outlets in Indonesia run by another franchise group, Cipta.

    Quick Serve says it plans to move quickly to expand the brand primarily in the Java and Bali regions.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Yum China Reports A Strong Quarter

    Yum China Reports A Strong Quarter

    A strong fourth quarter has been recorded by Yum China Holdings, which runs KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants on the mainland.

    Its unaudited results for the quarter to the end of December show 5 per cent growth in same-store sales, up 7 per cent at KFC and 1 per cent at Pizza Hut.

    Total system sales grew 9 per cent, including growth of 11 per cent at KFC and 6 per cent at Pizza Hut, and excluding foreign currency conversion (F/X).

    Total revenues were US$2.2 billion, an increase of 13 per cent (9 per cent excluding F/X).

    The group opened 339 restaurants during the quarter.

    Operating profit rose 23 per cent to $71 million, but excluding special items and F/X, there was a 9 per cent decrease in adjusted operating profit because of product upgrades at Pizza Hut during the quarter, partially offset by strong sales at KFC.

    There was an estimated one-time tax charge of $164 million related to tax reform in the US. This resulted in a net loss of $90 million. Excluding this impact, adjusted net income was $74 million, up 12 per cent (18 per cent, excluding F/X).

    For the full year, same-store sales were up 4 per cent – an increase of 5 per cent at KFC and 1 per cent at Pizza Hut.

    Total system sales grew 8 per cent, including growth of 9 per cent at KFC and 7 per cent at Pizza Hut, excluding F/X.

    Total revenues were $7.1 billion, an increase of 6 per cent (8 per cent, excluding F/X).

    During the year, 691 restaurants were opened, taking the total store count to 7983 across more than 1200 cities.

    Restaurant margin improved 1.5 points to 16.8 per cent, primarily driven by same-store sales and helped by retail tax structure reform.

    Operating profit rose 23 per cent to $785 million. Excluding special items, the adjusted operating profit was $782 million, an increase of 20 per cent (23 per cent excluding F/X) driven by strong sales and margin expansion.

    Net income dropped 20 per cent to $403 million. Excluding special items, adjusted net income was $564 million, up 20 per cent (24 per cent excluding F/X).

    Loyalty program membership grew to more than 110 million for KFC and more than 35 million for Pizza Hut at year end.

    Mobile payments accounted for about 53 per cent of company sales during the fourth quarter, while delivery contributed to 14 per cent of company sales for the year.

    It was the first full year of Yum China as an independently listed company. CEO Micky Pant will hand over the reins to Joey Wat, currently president and COO, from March.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Seafood restaurants shut down in China as New Year approaches

    Seafood restaurants shut down in China as New Year approaches

    China’s premier seaside tourist region is seeking to rein in malpractice in the seafood catering sector, which has seen customers overcharged and a restaurant charged with bribery.

    A clampdown involving the China Food and Drug Administration, the Industry and Commerce Bureau (which issues business licenses), the Tourism Administration, and the Public Security Bureau has resulted in the high-profile closure of two restaurants in Sanya, the coastal city on the tropical island of Hainan that is often touted as China’s answer to Miami.

    The Liu Mei Jia seafood restaurant has had its license revoked for “soliciting customers” – reference to a practice in which restaurateurs use misleading advertising and salespeople to lure in customers who are then frequently overcharged. Also put out of business was the Qiong Mei Jia seafood restaurant, which stands accused of “bribery,” according to the local office of the Industry and Commerce Bureau, which didn’t elaborate on the charge.

    Price-bilking by seafood restaurants has become a major consumer issue in China in recent years, particularly in major tourist destinations like Sanya. This, in turn, has drawn more scrutiny onto the seafood catering trade. The latest crackdown, which featured prominently on state-run TV, comes just before the annual Chinese New Year  on 16 February 16, a peak period for dining out.

  • Okashi Land and EasyGo to open unmanned outlet in China

    Okashi Land and EasyGo to open unmanned outlet in China

    Hong Kong-listed Four Seas Group, which runs Okashi Land confectionery outlets, plans to open unmanned stores in China.

    Its Guangzhou-based partner EasyGo, a start-up that runs unmanned convenience stores on the mainland, is finalising a location for a flagship Okashi Land store there with an unmanned section, says EasyGo co-founder Fele Wang.

    She says the start-up wants to take advantage of its base in southern China to seek co-operation from brands based in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and might expand the branded store model once it takes off.

    EasyGo also sells Four Seas products through its unmanned convenience stores in the Pearl River Delta in the southern mainland. It has about 100 outlets in 10 cities in China, but Four Seas products are mainly available at its stores in seven cities in southern China.

    To enter the company’s unmanned stores, customers need to scan a QR code using Tencent Holdings’ messaging app WeChat on their mobile phones. They then pick out the items they want, and scan a QR code again at the exit point where the system automatically detects the items and tallies up the purchases.

    As well as expansion in southern China, EasyGo is trying to make inroads into eastern China in cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou.

    In Shanghai, EasyGo has been supporting Tencent in running a cashierless pop-up shop, We Life.

    Lees ook:

  • Bernard Arnault now richer than Mark Zuckerberg

    Bernard Arnault now richer than Mark Zuckerberg

    LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group, announced record sales of 42.6 billion Euros in 2017, up 13% over the previous year, as all divisions turned in strong performances. Its net profit popped 29%.

    The news sent LVMH‘s stock up 5% on Friday. The biggest beneficiary of the announcement is LVMH’s longtime chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, who owns more than 5% of LVMH’s stock. His fortune jumped $3.5 billion in just hours and was at $77.9 billion by noon on Friday.

    He is now the fifth richest person on the planet, up from number 11 last March when FORBES published our annual rankings of the World’s Billionaires. Since the list’s publication, his fortune has climbed more than $36 billion, helping him move ahead of Michael Bloomberg, Charles and David Koch, Larry Ellison and Carlos Slim. Today, he leaps ahead of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

    “The excellent performance, to which all our businesses contributed, is due in part to the buoyant environment but above all to the remarkable creative strength of our brands and their ability to constantly reinvent themselves,” said Arnault, in a released statement. “Continued innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and the quest for excellence: all Maisons continue to assert these core values while maintaining rigorous execution of their strategies on the ground.”

    The multi-billion dollar morning for Arnault is another chapter in what is turning out to be one of his best years yet.

    In April 2017, Arnault and his family announced a $13 billion deal to acquire Christian Dior and fold the fashion brand into LVMH. The move ends years of a convoluted, complicated cross holding structure between the two companies. The share price of Dior, in which Arnault now has a 97% stake and which represents the bulk of his fortune, has climbed nearly 38% since April and popped almost 5% on Friday.

    One of the world’s ultimate taste-makers, Arnault first got into the luxury goods business in 1984 when he bought Christian Dior. He has run LVMH, which owns 70 brands including Dom Perignon, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Sephora and Tag Heuer, since 1989.

    Lees ook:

  • Pizza Express opened in Philippines

    Pizza Express opened in Philippines

    Italian flavours from the UK have landed in the Philippines, with Pizza Express offering casual dining at Uptown Place Mall in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

    Peter Boizot founded Pizza Express as a small shop in London’s Soho district, and after five decades has about 472 shops in Britain plus branches in Cyprus, Gibraltar, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and the Middle East.

    No two Pizza Express restaurants are identical. in the world look exactly alike. Head of international business development Hakim Haouchine says the design of each restaurant depends on its location, stemming from the 97-year-old founder’s philosophy and love for music and art.

    The Philippine branch has black and white floors, green chairs, a 3D map of London as a wall feature, white marble counters and an all-white open kitchen.

    Haouchine says the restaurant is not authentic Italian but rather “inspired Italian”. “We believe in innovation and have our own way of delivering food4”.

    Once the brand has settled in the market, it will add special dishes for Filipinos, following the example of Peking duck pizza in China and chili-crab pizza in Singapore.

    For the Philippine market, the brand franchise is held by the Tasteless Food Group, which is behind such restaurants as Hanamaruken, Le Petit Souffle and the Hole in the Wall food hall.