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In China, when you talk about pizza, the first reaction you get will be Pizza Hut and its Red Roof. But if you talk about pizza buffet, most Chinese will think about the Origus Pizza Buffet. Origus entered the Chinese market in 1998 and was the first pizza buffet restaurant that sold American style pizza in Beijing. Origus was the founder and pioneer of the Chinese pizza buffet market. The company first chose Beijing, but swiftly grew its business throughout China. Origus has opened 65 units in more than 20 major cities in China, like Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Xinjiang, Guiyang, etc.
Origus Pizza Buffet offers more than 20 varieties of gourmet pizzas, famous secret recipe chicken wings, Italian pasta, fresh garden salads, fruit salads, soup, desert and ice-cream along with soft drinks and beer. There are over 80 different styles of delicious foods. The all-you-can-eat offer is for the pizza buffet only and only cost RMB39.00 (USD$4.85). Besides the dine-in buffet, they also have carry out and delivery services.
“At Origus, you can taste all kinds of traditional American pizza. We use the best ingredients to make our pizza and bake them in the deck oven. We make sure that every pizza we serve has a great taste, and we also make desert pizzas, such as fruit pizza and chocolate pizza, which are very popular here,” says Yanyi Wang, marketing manager.
Successful Marketing Strategies
“We put 240 Origus posters in all of the subway stations in Beijing every month. The subway is the major mode of transportation for Beijing and has millions of passengers every day. These passengers are not only Beijing’s locals, but a lot of them are from other cities,” Wang says. “We have set up the Origus nationwide customer service calling center with a toll free number too. We cooperate with the cell phone companies to set the Origus message service. Customers also can go to our website: www.origus.com to learn everything about us. There they can download menus, find out where our restaurant locations are, find our new events and send letters to managers for complaints, etc.
“Most our units’ sales come from the dine-in buffet,” Wang continues, “Carry out and delivery business is a very small part of our revenues. But, at special locations, like the hospital and office buildings, carry out and delivery are quite popular. We create many different sales events, posters and flyers for different locations, which vary according to each location’s sales characteristics to help them increase sales,” Wang said. “Origus coordinates special company events with all of special holidays and big social events. For example, we give flowers to all our customers who are mothers on Mothers Day. We also have the Origus Soccer Month during the World Cup. We do things like sending Origus greeting messages to all of our customers during holidays. We also have the Happy Growing Children Club for kids. At Origus, we want our customers to feel that they are very important to us and know that we care about them.”
Origus is very confident with the future of the Chinese pizza market. “In the current Chinese food market, the competition between Chinese food and Western food has changed from the competition of industry to the competition of cultures. Even though Chinese food has a great history and culture, the standard and technological processes of Western food has become a great advantage to the modern Chinese food industry,” Wang explained. “Origus not only offers great food with fast and quality service to our customers, it also offers a comfortable and higher standard dining environment. Our major consumers are students, families and office workers. You barely see just one person eating here alone. Parties and groups are another major area of sales for us.”
“The Chinese market is a growing market, but competition in this industry is getting stronger. This market is growing very fast, but as it often happens, some market phenomenons like chain brands copying each other’s in products, marketing, and management. We believe that our company’s culture is the key that leads us to success. Our customers are no different between the rich and the poor.”
Origus has as many corporate stores as franchises stores. “We are working to keep the franchise and operation of restaurants in a pace that will develop together. We have to make sure that we can control the market and the quality of our brand as well as the future developments of our company. In China, many companies have failed because they have lost control of their franchise development. We have an integrated franchise system. We also have a nationwide commissary to distribute foods, equipments, and advertising material. Origus also has very good training programs for franchisees and management; this is another important element to success,” says Wang. “We chose first and second-class major cities as targets. We are very careful when we choose new locations; such as is it big enough? Does it have transportation conveniences? Does it have business potential? Is it on the list of dismantle areas, etc.”
With their success, Chinese consumers have recognized and embraced the Origus brand. Origus is on the list of China’s Top 100 Food Companies in both 2005 and 2006. They have embraced social efforts and support Special Olympics; donated pizzas to the hospital during the Sars epidemic, collected donations for the south Asia tsunami refugees, presented full sets of children’s playground equipment to orphanages and offer special discounts to senior citizens and children, etc.
To foreign friends who may have an interest in entering the Chinese pizza market, Wang also has some advice; “You have to know the market and you need be very careful in choosing your franchise partners. There are many opportunities in China, not only for pizzerias, but also for distributors and suppliers. China also needs more knowledge and technical support. For example, most of the POS systems that the Chinese market uses do not have enough features to help with inventory control, management reports and other basic functions. Professional kitchen supplies and equipment are also needed.”
Origus is the number one brand of pizza buffets in China and has continued to write its history with great success and is creating another Chinese legend. Origus expects to reach 100 units at the end of 2006.
To learn more about Origus Pizza Buffet in China, please visit www.origus.com. If you would like to know more abut Chinese pizza market, or to find out more Chinese pizza opportunities, please contact Weihua Xaio-Watson at weihua@pmq.com or visit our Chinese website www.pmq.cn.