Bo’s earmarks P3M for system upgrading

Bo’s Coffee Club will be investing around P3 million for a two-year business support system upgrading of the entire chain’s operating system elevating it to an ISO certifiable state.

In an interview with Steve Benitez, Bo's Coffee Club president and chief executive officer (CEO) he said that the company will put the operational system of the company into an ISO certifiable state, that would employ sophisticated back-room operations in connectivity or automation, among others.

"We are working on this project phase by phase. Probably in eight months, we will be able to complete everything based on our consultant's projection," Benitez said.

If this project will be completed, it will transform Bo's Coffee Club into an ISO certifiable company, afterwhich Bo's will have to apply for ISO certification, he said.

Benitez said it is very important for the company Coffee Centrale Inc.-The Bean Company, to raise its operational standard, to prepare for more outlet expansions in the next few years, including international ventures.

As of now, the company has to focus on every outlet’s facelift, and strengthening its backroom operations, he said. The P3 million investment will be spread in the next eight months to one year, he stressed.

Simultaneous with its operational system upgrading, each outlet of Bo's coffee club, either company owned or franchisee managed, will undergo renovation to conform with the Bo's branding image, which is not only selling freshly brewed coffee, gourmet coffee, but importantly the experience and the ambiance it offers in all its outlets nationwide.

Last year, Bo's Coffee opened 10 new shops across the country. By the end of 2008 the company aimed at hitting 50 outlets, more of these will be opened in the Luzon area.

Benitez, who started his first coffee shop in 1996 in Ayala Center Cebu with P300,000 capital is now the largest Filipino-owned coffee shop chain in the Philippines.

He said the company is continuously improving its quality of service and products, the main reason why it has invested so much to improve its entire backroom system operations to the highest standard.

After the company will establish its operational system, it will seriously consider its international venture, wherein it will partner with a master-franchise in each country.

Bo's Coffee Club, a purely Cebuano coffee shop brand, is also creating its niche in the freshly roasted coffee bean, with the establishment of its roasting plant in Metro Manila, and soon in Cebu.

About 75 percent to 80 percent of Bo's Coffee bean requirement is sourced from the coffee farmers in the country such as from Bukidnon, Mountain Province, Sultan Kudarat, and other coffee producing provinces.

The Benitez SD Ventures Holdings owns several subsidiaries aside from the Coffee Centrale Inc.-The Bean Company, these are the Triangle Fort Distribution Inc.- the warehouse and delivery provider for all Bo's Coffee outlets nationwide; Triangle Food Central Corporation-the commissary unit for Bo's servicing its pastries and other food product requirements; Coffee System Franchise Corporation, and Omni Triangle Resources Corporation.