Global Restaurant Concepts to expand IHOP presence in SEA

MANILA, Philippines - Global Restaurant Concepts Inc. (GRCI), a Filipino-owned company which develops and operates unique restaurant concepts since 1997, will aggressively expand IHOP Restaurants in the Southeast Asian region, a top company official said.

In a press briefing, GRCI president and CEO Archie Rodriguez said they are eyeing to start the expansion of IHOP branches in Singapore by the first half of 2015.

He said aside from Singapore, they see opportunity to open IHOP branches in other countries in the region such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Rodriguez said they are likely to forge joint venture partnerships to put up at least five IHOP stores in each of these countries.

For his part, visiting IHOP International president Daniel del Olmo said they are looking at introducing local dishes in their menu

“It makes sense, being a global brand, to be able to have a taste of other international dishes incorporated in our menu,” said Del Olmo, who admitted to have fallen in love with the recently-introduced traditional Filipino breakfast dishes in IHOP menu, particularly the savory pork “longganisa” with vinegar dip.

Del Olmo said they are considering to introduce these Filipino dishes in other IHOP restaurants not only in Southeast Asia but also in Middle East and Latin America.

“In fact, even in the United States, we offer regional dishes that are popular and familiar to the local, whether this means including coconut syrup with our pancakes in our Hawaii locations or making grits available as a side dish in the Southern United States,” the IHOP executive said.

“The introduction of these new entrees represents an ongoing process of offering our guests a wide variety of choice- and choice is part of our DNA.”

GRCI is planning to put up 20 IHOP restaurants in the Philippines over the next five years and a total 55 stores in the region.

GRCI intends to locate these 20 IHOP branches within the Greater Manila area. The company is also studying the possibility of bringing IHOP in Cebu, Davao, Baguio and Cagayan de Oro.

Aside from Century Mall, there are IHOP branches in Bonifacio Global City, UP Town Center and Entertainment Mall of SM Mall of Asia.

The company plans to put up IHOP branches in Filinvest Mall, Gateway, Rockwell Business Center, Robinsons Magnolia, Eastwood and Fairview Terraces. The project cost for each store is about P10 million to P12 million.

“The opening of the first IHOP restaurant in Manila also represented the brand’s first expansion into the Asia Pacific region, a region which we see enormous growth opportunities,” Rodriguez said.

“Both IHOP international and GRCI are pleased and grateful for the response from our guests to our new locations here, witnessed by the fact that we have opened four locations within the last 16 months,” the GRCI official said.

“Expanding IHOP’s presence in this region was something the brand had been interested for some time, but we wanted to ensure we did it a strategic way with the right franchisee who shared our commitment to excellence in service and quality. And that is our approach for any expansion we undertake,” Rodriguez added.

Over a year, there are now four IHOP locations in Manila: Bonifacio Global City, Katipunan, Mall of Asia and Century City Mall.

Asked why they chose the Philippines as the first franchisee in Asia outside of the US, Del Olmo said: “We chose to open our expansion into the Asia Pacific region in the Philippines because we see the Philippines as a potential gateway to the rest of Asia. The Philippine is in particular has a record of successfully embracing American restaurants and other products.”