A licensee of Canadian pizza chain Steveston Pizza Co. unveils a plan to expand the brand from the Philippines to other Southeast Asian countries within the next two to three years.
“We probably will be looking at Indonesia, followed by Brunei and maybe Singapore. We really have to do it in time with the Asean integration,” Richard Go, chief executive of Steveston Pizza Philippines Corp., says.
Go says the plan is to team up with local partners to bring the brand to other Southeast Asian markets.
Steveston Pizza Philippines is a licensee of Steveston Pizza Co., an eight-year-old Vancouver-based operator of gourmet pizza restaurants. Three years ago, Steveston Pizza put up its first Philippine branch in Tomas Morato in Quezon City.
It has since relocated and now has two branches in Metro Manila, including those in UP Town Center and Corinthian Gardens Clubhouse in Mandaluyong City, which opened July 25 this year. Another will open at Circuit Market, a new commercial district in Makati City.
“We figured this is a concept that is acceptable for Filipinos. Filipinos are becoming more and more cosmopolitan. They can enjoy products from all over the world,” Go says in explaining his decision to franchise the Canadian brand.
Steveston Pizza offers 30 variants of pizzas and costs around P399 to P1,299 a pie. However, it’s cheaper compared to its original price in dollars, according to Go.
“We raised the bar for preparing pizzas in the country. When we prepare our pizza, it’s one at a time. So it’s not commercial. We prepare it only when you order. And then we have a sequence of layering the different ingredients, which are all in harmony with one another,” Go says.
Steveston Pizza is not offering it in thin crust. “Ours is not thin crust or thick crust. We are chewy and fluffy and it has to be done this way to be in harmony with the toppings we put. These toppings in the thin crust will not work,” Go says.
The Philippine licensee of the Canadian brand also offers appetizers, soups and salads for variety. “In the Philippines, what happens is that we are now bombarded with many new concepts, and everybody always likes to try something new. So, in our operation, it’s a matter of remaining true to our brand and remaining true to who we really are,” says Go.
“We don’t try to do what everybody else is doing. While normally, there is a shelf life to a certain concept, pizza is a comfort food that will be there forever,” Go says.
He says Steveston Pizza will also expand domestically, depending on available location suitable for the brand.
Go says Filipinos are very receptive of the Canadian pizza brand with their outlet at UP Town Center constantly in the Top 5 restaurant-tenants in the said location.
“We are not an impulse concept. We are more of a destination place. We have to be in a place matched to our targeted premium market. We’ll see what happens to the federation idea of our President. If it becomes successful, maybe we will have one in every federated state. With that, I believe the growth of our business will be more. It will be going to be ‘double-digit,” Go says.
