Saturday, October 22, 2011
INTERNATIONAL doughnut store chain Krispy Kreme opens today its 25th outlet in the Philippines at the Ayala Center Cebu and Asiatown IT Park, its first foray outside Luzon.
In a press conference held yesterday at its retail outlet at Ayala Center, The Real American Doughnut Company, Inc. managing director Carolyn Salud said the opening of their Cebu outlet signifies their confidence in the Cebuano market. She said that in two months, the company will also open another outlet at SM City Cebu.
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The Real American Doughnut Company Inc. is the master franchise company that owns and operates all Krispy Kreme outlets in the Philippines. The company first opened its flagship store at Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City. Since then, the company expanded its operation, concentrating in the Luzon area.
“We admit it has taken us some time to expand outside Luzon, but we have been eyeing Cebu as the company’s next area for expansion. We just waited for the right time to open here,” Salud said.
The Real American Doughnut Company Inc. currently has two outlets in Cebu. The Ayala Center Cebu, Active Zone outlet will serve as the “fresh shop” or the retail outlet, while the Asiatown IT Park outlet serves as the company’s factory store.
Salud said opening a mall-based retail outlet normally costs some P10 million to P15 million while the factory store’s investment is about P20 million.
Despite the presence of other players in the market today, Salud said she is optimistic they will capture a good share of the market, considering the product is a popular “pasalubong” or homecoming gift among Filipino.
“We are confident about growing the Visayas market through Cebu,” Salud said.
Apart from Cebu, the company will also expand in Davao City and in the areas of Southern Luzon by next year.
Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. vice-president for Asia Pacific Peter King said the expansion of the company in the Visayas signifies their strong commitment to the Philippine market, which has been an important market in the whole Asia-Pacific region.
King reported the country even won the Franchise of the Year award twice, because of its excellent performance and sales.
Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The brand is present in 21 countries: the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Korea, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The company has
over 600 outlets globally.
Its signature product is the original glazed doughnut.
King said he is confident the product would do well in Cebu despite the competition.
“Cebuanos already understand this brand, and the fact that a lot of Filipinos consider Krispy Kreme as homecoming gifts, this alone make us feel confident in the market,” King said.
King said the company will be strengthening its foothold in the Asia Pacific region, considering its booming economy. He said their outlets in the US and United Kingdom are also performing well, despite the economic conditions.
In the Asia Pacific, Japan is growing fastest.
“For the Philippines, the strategic plan is to grow by five or six new outlets in a year,” King said.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 22, 2011.
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