Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things eyes international market | Business and Politics - video Dailymotion

The Manila Times

Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things eyes international market | Business and Politics  Rommel Ng, co-founder of Buffalo's Wings N' Things, is aiming to serve the international market soon. Starting with Asia, the restaurant chain eyes opening franchises in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes  #businessandpolitics

Transcript

00:00 What are the opportunities and challenges you see?

00:03 Let's start with the opportunities

00:05 because people have to eat.

00:07 It's a very enticing business to go into,

00:10 but from your experience, with your background,

00:14 what's catching your eye?

00:16 - Well, for our brand,

00:18 I think it's more of the Visayas region

00:20 and more expansion in Mindanao.

00:27 When we stopped our expansion during the pandemic time,

00:30 we were already going into that path, right?

00:33 And then Southeast Asia, as I've mentioned earlier.

00:36 - Any particular country in Southeast Asia?

00:40 - Well, for us, what would really be aligned

00:43 with our vision for the brand, in terms of flavors,

00:47 in terms of the similarities of the market

00:49 would be Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand.

00:52 - Interesting.

00:52 - Those are the top three countries

00:54 that would be of interest.

00:56 In terms of demographics, economic growth,

00:59 and in terms of the opportunities

01:01 for Filipino brands to really go there.

01:03 - Sure.

01:04 - Some markets are really more advanced than the Philippines,

01:08 but it's very interesting also to look into, like Taiwan.

01:11 I always look at Taiwan and Korea for trends

01:14 and other benchmarks.

01:17 For the malls, particularly Thailand, is very interesting.

01:20 - That's really interesting

01:21 that Philippine homegrown brands are going international.

01:27 What do you need?

01:30 Do you need government help?

01:31 Do you need foreign investors?

01:34 Do you need something else?

01:36 What would it take for you to go ahead

01:39 and push through with something like that?

01:40 - I can only speak from my personal experience

01:44 because most of my trips abroad

01:48 are either sponsored by the company

01:50 who I worked for before,

01:52 or personally funded

01:56 because I really invest in continuing to learn

01:59 about the industry globally.

02:01 - You're doing your own market survey.

02:03 - I've seen a lot of government-initiated conferences

02:06 locally.

02:11 I think if restaurant entrepreneurs

02:15 would be given the opportunity to be part of a trade visit

02:19 to other countries,

02:20 and it would be recognized that the restaurant segment

02:22 in the Philippines is something that could attract

02:25 and also export, import and export its talents,

02:29 its brands, expertise systems.

02:33 We're very much known for how Filipinos

02:36 can easily learn the technology.

02:39 We're moving into an AI and robotic period.

02:42 So I think if our government agencies

02:46 can help the Filipino restaurant operators

02:49 to be more equipped in terms of how these trends

02:53 would affect the industry,

02:55 and how it would also prevent job loss,

02:59 'cause the most prone area would be the kitchen.

03:03 If you're going to replace equipments with robotics,

03:07 in the US I've seen the kitchens without cooks already,

03:12 and servers, people ordering digitally even with dining.

03:18 So I think all of these things need to be provided for

03:20 in terms of just access and opportunities for learning,

03:25 as I've said earlier.

03:26 - So right now, I think you're not invited,

03:29 is there like an organized mission by maybe DTI

03:35 or some other government?

03:36 Do they go to your group and say,

03:38 "We're going to Taiwan or Japan or maybe Middle East."

03:43 They don't have that yet?

03:45 - Not as institutionalized

03:48 as needed by the industry. - So occasionally.

03:49 - Okay.

03:50 - It's not proportionate to the size of the industry.

03:52 - I see, I get what you mean.

03:54 - And it's contribution to the economy, I would say.

03:56 - You mentioned Indonesia as one of the markets

03:59 that you're looking at.

04:00 I heard that Halal offers a lot of opportunities as well,

04:04 billion dollar opportunity.

04:06 Is that something, I mean, because chicken, Halal,

04:09 is that something that you're looking at?

04:10 - Yes, I think that's one of the reasons why,

04:13 the reasons why we,

04:14 one of our earliest business development plan was Zamboanga

04:19 because we wanted to cater to the market

04:21 of our Muslim brothers also,

04:23 and to get a gauge of the dynamics

04:26 that might be happening in Indonesia and Malaysia.

04:29 - So test that out in Zamboanga.

04:30 - So if you succeed in Zamboanga, then--

04:32 - You're more confident.

04:33 - You're more familiar, you're more confident

04:35 to enter the other Muslim markets.

04:40 - Can I ask you about something in the news lately?

04:43 The food waste has become one of the issues.

04:46 I think Phil Rice came out with a statement last week

04:51 that there's a lot of food waste in the restaurants.

04:55 People leave maybe an average of two spoonfuls of rice

05:00 per serving, and it doesn't sound much,

05:02 but if they total it in a year,

05:05 it comes out to something like 385 metric tons

05:07 of wasted rice, right?

05:09 I know you focus mainly on chicken,

05:13 but is that a concern?

05:16 Is that something that you guys think about?

05:18 Maybe if not in terms of the social impact,

05:20 but maybe on the impact of your bottom line,

05:24 is there a solution for it, you think?

05:26 What do you think?

05:27 - Well, I totally agree that the impact of food waste

05:31 is not just in terms of the economics of the restaurant,

05:35 but more so, 'cause some restaurants

05:37 would just pass it on to the consumer side.

05:39 - Yeah, that's right.

05:40 - Pricing, you know?

05:41 - Yeah.

05:42 - I think it's also we have to look into,

05:44 or to just give some thought about all the concepts

05:48 that do unlimited.

05:50 - Unlimited rice.

05:51 - Eat all you can.

05:52 - Yeah.

05:53 Do you think there should be some maybe regulation on that?

05:56 - Well, you know, it cannot be,

05:57 it should not be regulated.

05:59 - Should not be, okay.

06:00 - But I think it should be the mindfulness of the operator

06:02 to consider that the supply is not really endless,

06:06 it's limited.

06:07 - Is there something that can be done

06:08 for maybe public, maybe on the consumer side?

06:11 - Yes.

06:12 - Maybe a change of mindset, you know, for Filipino?

06:14 - Well, a lot of it can be from the operator side.

06:16 - Also, okay.

06:17 - Because as I mentioned earlier, cross-utilization,

06:21 even in the US, they're doing it now in the Western countries

06:25 because they're now cognizant of the fact

06:27 that you just don't throw away anything in the garbage can.

06:30 - It's just money, right?

06:31 - Yeah, you know, let's say for example, produce.

06:34 - Yeah.

06:35 - Back in the day, you just throw away the leaves

06:37 of the celery and you just choose the prime parts

06:40 of the celery.

06:41 - Right.

06:42 - Now they understand.

06:42 - They use everything, yeah.

06:43 - To use everything for soup, to use cross-utilization.

06:46 - Yeah.

06:47 - I think that's one of the important aspects

06:49 that culinary schools can help in terms of educating

06:52 the chefs and the, you know, all the culinary practitioners

06:57 to have that in mind.

06:59 - Yeah.

07:00 - The bigger suppliers are also working on that.

07:03 I, you know, I've heard Unilever talk about that

07:05 in one of the bigger conferences.

07:07 - Sure.

07:08 - So the whole industry, not just here in the Philippines,

07:10 is talking about it.

07:11 But in terms of the consumers, I totally agree with you.

07:14 It needs to be an awareness program

07:16 because you cannot force people to stop eating unli

07:19 or to stop patronizing, you know, restaurants

07:22 which they feel have value.

07:24 - Right.

07:24 It's a come on, right?

07:25 I mean, it's been an effective come on.

07:28 But what is, can you maybe clue me in

07:32 on some of the discussions among restaurant owners

07:36 about the food waste problem?

07:37 Is that something that's talked about a lot

07:39 or maybe just on the fringe or?

07:42 Because, you know, our discussion has been survival

07:45 of the business, right?

07:46 Is that a big cost or is there some, maybe some other,

07:50 you know, program that you guys have been talking about?

07:52 - Yeah, the pandemic has definitely put a spotlight on it.

07:56 - I see.

07:57 - Because during the pandemic, the reality was you realized

08:01 that, you know, what was very available in the past,

08:05 2019 and, you know, earlier,

08:07 is not readily available when the pandemic hits, right?

08:11 - Because of supply chain problems.

08:13 - There's a heightened awareness of the importance

08:16 of knowing that supply chain should be,

08:18 should not be treated as an endless supply of things,

08:21 you know, an endless availability of different things.

08:24 So, culinarily, a lot of restaurants adjusted their menus,

08:29 made it more compact.

08:31 'Cause if you put out a big menu,

08:34 even if you don't sell a lot of the other items,

08:36 you still have to prep it.

08:38 - Yeah, you have to keep the inventory.

08:40 - That's where the wastage comes in.

08:42 - I see.

08:43 - Even before it's cooked.

08:43 So I would say that it has improved in terms of awareness

08:48 and a lot of people are doing something about it

08:51 in the industry already.

08:52 - What are other issues that you guys are talking about?

08:56 I mean, in terms of opportunities and challenges,

08:59 is Christmas something you look forward to?

09:02 And then what does 2024 look to you?

09:05 - For this year, a lot of people, I'm sure,

09:08 are really looking forward to Christmas

09:09 because 2023 has been very challenging.

09:12 Q1, Q2, we thought that it was just-

09:14 - You were saying something, it's worse now than 2021

09:18 or 2023?

09:18 - Yeah, in a lot of ways.

09:19 - Okay, that's odd, yeah.

09:21 - Because the latter part of 2022,

09:24 the rent was brought back to normal.

09:26 - I see, okay.

09:27 - And then inflation came in and of course it affected,

09:32 factored in also is the, what aggravated it

09:35 was the global demand escalated,

09:40 so supply was affected as well.

09:42 In our case, poultry supply.

09:44 - I was gonna ask you about that because, I mean,

09:46 is localization something that you look at?

09:49 Because for your particular restaurant,

09:52 I mean, you import your chicken, right?

09:55 Because we're talking about the dynamics of the chicken

09:58 suppliers here in the country.

10:00 They have to prep it for you because you serve wings.

10:03 Whereas if they sell to, let's say people like me,

10:06 we buy the whole chicken and we prepare it at home.

10:09 - And most of the time you get it chilled.

10:11 No need for them to freeze, no need for them to cut it up.

10:14 - But localization, is that something you guys think about

10:18 or what do you think about that?

10:19 - Yeah, I think that's something that,

10:20 going back to your earlier question,

10:22 I think that's where government can also step in

10:24 and provide support for the local poultry industry.

10:28 Aside from the poultry industry,

10:30 making sure that the other processes leading towards

10:33 being consumed in the restaurant.

10:35 Because during the pandemic,

10:37 I highlighted it in one of my conversations

10:40 in our organization and even during webinars that,

10:43 during the pandemic,

10:45 we saw the bigger role of the restaurants

10:47 in terms of not just being a business,

10:50 but also as a social, essential social institution.

10:55 Providing convenience, helping people,

10:59 giving people access to our convenient way.

11:02 Especially now that people are not too keen

11:04 on cooking on their own.

11:06 - It's such a luxury, right?

11:07 - Yeah, it's a--

11:09 - Sometimes essential, yeah.

11:10 - So having said that,

11:13 I think that the support of the government

11:14 can come into providing more supply for basic,

11:19 especially for protein.

11:20 - Yeah.

11:21 - Because if you think of it,

11:22 we don't have a beef industry or a cattle industry

11:27 that can provide us the beef, right?

11:28 It's almost all imported.

11:30 So, and then you have a pork supply now

11:33 that's been troubled for the past few years

11:35 because of the--

11:36 - The swine flu. - The swine fever, yeah.

11:38 - So that puts a lot of pressure in the poultry sector.

11:41 So maybe a review on the laws also

11:44 in terms of the trade agreements.

11:47 Some countries are not allowed to export chicken

11:51 to the Philippines.

11:52 And I think those old laws can be reviewed now,

11:56 especially with the ASEAN integration.

11:58 'Cause we know in the ASEAN region,

12:01 there's a lot of supply of chicken,

12:02 but we don't have access to that.

12:04 So maybe it's an updating of the trade agreements

12:08 and the laws so that we can really support the restaurants,

12:11 which I think even during the pandemic and up to now,

12:14 we still grow by numbers.

12:16 In terms of the number of restaurants being open every year.

12:19 - Right.

12:20 And you know this, but I wanna hear you say it,

12:23 but why is that support important?

12:25 I'd say maybe, how many people did you employ

12:28 when you started and how many do you have now?

12:31 Maybe that's one way to gauge the importance, right?

12:34 - For us, it was a more creative, just for context.

12:36 Our restaurants are typically smaller

12:40 because when the landlords were inviting us to the malls,

12:44 that's one of the things that we were afraid of,

12:46 the rent.

12:47 So we adjusted our model to a smaller one.

12:49 So a small restaurant like ours,

12:51 which is a fun, casual restaurant,

12:53 full service, but not casual dining.

12:55 - I see.

12:56 - It employs nine to 12 people.

12:59 - Okay.

13:00 - So if you have, in our case,

13:02 if you have 50 branches, 40 branches, it multiplies.

13:05 - Times nine to 12.

13:06 - And also the entrepreneurial opportunities

13:09 that you share with your franchisees.

13:10 - Right.

13:11 And then of course you support your suppliers.

13:13 - Suppliers, landlords.

13:15 - Yeah.

13:16 Well, Rommel, it's been very interesting to talk to you.

13:19 A lot of things I've learned this episode.

13:24 Thank you for your time, but before we go,

13:25 maybe you'd like to leave our audience with a message?

13:28 - For me, number one, thank you very much to you, sir,

13:33 for inviting me over SMNI.

13:35 (speaking in foreign language)

13:36 And I always appreciate a platform

13:38 where we can talk about the industry

13:40 so people can understand and appreciate

13:43 the industry in itself and how it impacts the economy

13:46 and how it serves the people.

13:48 I'm blessed to have been part of the industry

13:51 for almost 40 years now.

13:53 And all of these learnings, experiences,

13:56 I share every Tuesday.

13:58 The Resto Coach on Facebook, every Tuesday night,

14:01 8.30 to 9.30, as I always encourage people to,

14:05 if you're really serious into going into business,

14:07 there's no harm in listening to something.

14:10 Even if you don't want to look at my face

14:11 and just listen to it.

14:13 - It's free.

14:14 - While eating, while doing something else,

14:16 or in the car, it's on Facebook.

14:19 It's also on YouTube, The Resto Coach.

14:22 And please visit our restaurants

14:23 and other restaurants for that matter.

14:25 We really need your dining support.

14:28 Delivery's fine, but it's not as profitable.

14:30 Sorry, Gravid Food Panda, my partners for delivery,

14:34 but that's the reality.

14:35 So we invite you to dine in.

14:37 The restaurants need your help up to now.

14:39 Some people would think it's post-pandemic,

14:41 but restaurants still need our help.

14:43 - Wait.

14:44 (upbeat music)

14:47 (upbeat music)

14:50 (mouse clicking)

14:51 (bell dinging)

14:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things eyes international market | Business and Politics

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