Saturday, August 18, 2007 Bakeshop to use coffee shop fad
THE Cebuanos growing appreciation for coffee has prompted a Cebu-based bake-shop chain to rethink its marketing program by turning its branches into coffee shops under a new brand name.
Cares Fountainhead Inc., which operates Fountainhead Bakeshop has now become Fountainhead Café. It offers hot and cold coffee beverages along with its usual line of baked breads, cakes and pastries, said Ramon Tor-neros, director of Fountainhead Bakeshop and Cafe, the bakeshop’s franchise arm.
“The trend now are coffee shops. Our products will complement that,” he said in a press interview last Thursday at the Fountainhead Bakeshop branch in Ayala Center Cebu.
The first Fountainhead Café opened early this year at Robinsons Place.
In line with this new thrust, Torneros said its Ayala branch will undergo renovations this year and will open with a new façade and product offerings.
Imported coffee
He said the company has imported Robusta and Arabica coffee beans from Italy, while targeting Filipinos and foreign “coffee fanatics” from the class B market.
He said, though, that prices of their coffee products are competitive if not more affordable than others.
Along with this new development, Torneros said Fountainhead will be expanding its chain of cafes by increasing its franchised outlets.
As proof that Cebu’s food sector is on the rise, he said two additional franchised outlets will open by October this year — one in SM City Cebu and another one in Gaisano Tabunok.
Last May, the company began operating bakeshops in Urgello, Cebu City; and in the cities of Carcar, Bogo and Mandaue. With the existing three company-owned outlets and four franchised branches, Fountainhead now has 13 shops in Cebu.
Franchise
Torneros said their franchise offerings have two packages — one is a café only while the other one is a café and commissary.
Fountainhead will open this October a commissary and store in Cagayan de Oro City, which will be the master franchisee in Mindanao.
This will be the first store to open outside of Cebu, he said.
He assured that the quality of the products will be maintained when establishing a commissary because most of the ingredients are pre-mixed and simply baked in the oven.
Franchise cost for a Fountain Café store-only is P795,000 which includes all necessary equipment and staff training, while a commissary and store costs P3.6 million.
Torneros said that with an assumed gross sales of P10,000 per day, a franchise holder can get back his or her investment in less than a year.
Fountainhead was founded by Erlinda Francisco in 1979 at her residence on Sanciangko St., Cebu City. (MMM)
