Japanese firm optimistic on manila

Written by Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

Wednesday, 11 February 2009 21:53

WDI Corp. of Japan has high hopes that its Capricciosa restaurants in Manila will continue to attract a lot of customers in spite of the sluggish Philippine economy. This developed as Tan Vy International, a company coowned by Cencio Vy and Vyson Tan—Filipino businessmen on Guam —with their Manila-based brothers, opened a second outlet of Capricciosa on November 25, 2008, along Connecticut Street in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. Tan Vy International, a Manila-based company, owns the Philippine franchise rights of the popular Japanese restaurant chain. In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Darren Telai, president of WDI on Guam which oversees the Philippine outlets, said: “We’re cautiously optimistic [about this year’s prospects]. They [Tan Vy owners] are carefully choosing their locations, being quite careful not to make the restaurants too large, making sure they are of reasonable size. Also, that they don’t have too much overhead.” WDI, a listed company on the Japan Stock Exchange, helped grow the Capricciosa restaurant concept in Japan. It now has 11 restaurants outside of Japan, including the Philippines, Guam, Saipan and the United States. In a separate interview, Engilou Vy, operations manager of Capricciosa in Manila, said the restaurant chain is actually the first food venture of the Tan Vy family, which has traditionally been in the “chemical business.” The family also owns Benson Hardware on Guam. She said her uncle Cencio is actually a “regular customer” of Capricciosa on Guam and wanted to bring the concept here. Asked about the sustainability of local restaurants with most Filipinos slowing down in their spending, Vy said the Makati outlet, for example, “is doing well. On Sundays we get the families because our dishes are known for their adequate size for sharing. When there is a good movie on in the cinemas [on the fourth floor of the mall], we’re full house. Those who also hold private screenings in the cinema usually hire us as their caterer.” She added the lunch-time crowd is especially strong since the restaurant started offering a lunchtime menu where half-orders of certain dishes are available. “We have a lot of Japanese customers, as well as balikbayan [returning Filipinos] from Guam who know of Capricciosa from there.” While Vy declined to reveal the terms of the franchise agreement between Tan Vy International and WDI Corp., she said the local firm is required to open at least three outlets in five years, or one more outlet by 2011. “They’re very understanding [of local conditions]. For them, they don’t want their brand ruined, so before approving the outlet, they need to research about it first and see the prospects.” The first outlet of Capricciosa in the Philippines opened in the popular Greenbelt 3 mall in Makati City in October 2006. It occupies 190 square meters of space on the mall’s third floor and employs about 25 staff. The Greenhills outlet is 140 sq m, with about 23 staff. Regarding future outlets, Telai said the local franchisees are “looking for the sites, most prime sights are on a long waiting list. [They are eyeing] malls or shopping centers.” He declined to reveal the franchise fees for Capricciosa in Manila. Tan Vy International also receives marketing support from the Japan office, but “for every promotion we offer, we have to seek Japan’s approval. In a year we get two visits for WDI to inspect us. If we notice from the menu that some of the items don’t sell, we ask them if we can remove them. We also get their approval before introducing a new dish,” Vy said. She stressed though that the pastas were not tweaked to cater to the usually sweet taste of the Filipinos. “It’s standard. The items on the menus in Japan or on Guam, are the same here.” The local Capricciosa has been allowed to introduce other menu items such as grilled pork chop with mushroom gravy and grilled lamb chop: “Filipinos are meat eaters. We noticed that our customers kept on asking for more meat dishes,” Vy said. The other best-selling dishes among Filipinos are squid ink pasta, rosemary chicken, spaghetti with meatballs, the shrimp and spinach rigatoni, lasagna and other spaghetti dishes. “We are allowed to tap local suppliers for ingredients like the spaghetti noodles, milk, cream,” which is how the restaurant manages to keep its prices stable, she explained. Vy, who graduated with a Hotel and Restaurant Management course and trained for a month-and-a-half in the top-down operations of Capricciosa Guam, said the family keeps a “hands-on approach” to managing the restaurants. “It’s really me and my cousin, Wawie Vy, who’s running it. This is why we are deliberate in choosing the next outlet. It has to be convenient for us to go to,” so the location can’t be too far from Makati or Greenhills. Tan Vy International remains optimistic about the prospects about the restaurant into 2009, despite projections of a further economic slowdown in the Philippines. Vy said they are currently implementing a number of promotions to drum up more interest in Capricciosa. For instance, the restaurant now serves breakfast starting at 8 a.m. at the Greenhills branch, and 10:30 a.m. at Greenbelt, Makati. Also, for the month of February, the restaurant has a special Valentine’s Set for couples at P1,000++ for a set of salad, pasta and pizza, inclusive of a Tiramisu dessert. “We’re investing heavily in marketing,” Vy stressed. WDI Corp. was established in Japan in April 1954 and entered the Tokyo market with its first franchised American restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken. This was followed by other American food brands such as Tony Roma’s, Hard Rock Café, Bubba Gump and California Pizza Chicken, among others. It also owns the rights to the Playboy Club in Tokyo. According to WDI’s web site, Capricciosa was first established by Italian-trained Japanese chef Masaaki Honda in Shibuya, Tokyo, in 1978. WDI then became Capricciosa’s business development partner in 1985, helping expand the restaurant’s outlets across Japan and overseas. There are now 139 Capricciosa restaurants, 128 of which are in Japan, while the rest are in the US and the Asia-Pacific. About 12 million customers visit the various restaurant outlets each year. WDI Corp. earned a net income of ¥189 million ($1.97 million) in fiscal year 2008, down 48 percent from 363 ¥million ($3.78 million) in FY 2007, owing to a slowdown in overall sales. The company was listed on the Japan Stock Exchange in 2006.