on a classic Pinoy favorite.
KOREAN pizza brand Eat Pizza proves that 10 inches is not too small when it comes to pizza.
According to Scott Tan, managing director of Scottland Food Group Corp., — which brought Eat Pizza here late last year and is also behind the franchise of Korean fried chicken chain Bonchon — the pizza’s relatively small size and rectangular shape was developed during the pandemic in South Korea, in 2021. That year, people were reluctant to share food due to the fear of the COVID-19 virus. The brand decided to develop a rectangular pizza, slightly bigger than a regular slice that people can eat alone and while moving about.
“It’s a new twist on how we share and eat pizza,” Mr. Tan said in an interview during the opening of the pizza outfit’s fourth branch in the Philippines, at SM City East Ortigas on June 24.
TRYING IT OUTWe had the Korean Sausage pizza (P179), with a side of Sweet and Spicy Corn Cheese (P129). While it had sweet and savory notes, the pizza’s slight tinge of heat isn’t easy to ignore, and we asked for seconds of our iced tea. For an easy (not light) snack, this is a good place to spend about P250 in.
Does the square shape add anything else beyond novelty and portability? Cooked in a rectangular pan, “It heats up the sides also,” said Mr. Tan. That does give the pizza a crunchier bite around the very thin, almost imperceptible crust (as opposed to the doughy ones we like to discard).
The new store only measures between 35 and 45 square meters, a standard across its Philippine stores. Mr. Tan says, “We really want to show people that our pizza is so easy to eat.” Limited seating and the small counter tell customers to grab and go.
“Price was very cheap, starting at P99. No issue in terms of price, so easy to buy, easy to try,” said Mr. Tan.
EXPANSION PLANSEat Pizza in Korea, according to Mr. Tan, has 120 stores, while its branches in Singapore number about nine. They opened in the Philippines in the last quarter of last year and in less than a year, already have four outlets (the others are in SM North EDSA, SM Grand Central, and SM Mall of Asia).
“We’re really planning a big expansion here in the Philippines. I can’t give exact numbers yet, but we have a lot of stores lined up throughout the year,” he said. This number would play out in the 20s: “Hopefully, we reach that; and we’re on track.”
The question is if Scottland can repeat Bonchon’s success in the Philippines. It has 180 stores in the country, and according to a previous interview with Mr. Tan, the model they used here was so successful it has become the model for Bonchon franchises across the world.
With us noting that they have some leeway over the menu (Eat Pizza has an item with sisig topping), he said, “They know us because of our stint with Bonchon. We’re kind of famous in Korea.”
“That’s why they gave [the franchise] to us, and they know our capability, especially in the R&D department,” he said.
“With the influx of the Korean craze — K-pop, the K-dramas — Korean food has become a big staple here in the Philippines; not just Filipino food, or Chinese food,” he said.
“This,” he said of the pizza brand, “is so much easier to expand. It has a smaller footprint,” he noted, so it is “definitely easier to open multiple stores simultaneously.” — Joseph L. Garcia