Vienna Kaffeehaus starts year with "unique" twists

CEBU, Philippines - Marketing their way through the food industry as not a typical restaurant, the present owners of Vienna Kaffeehaus is slowly finding means to strengthen their presence while targeting not only diners but also those for official businesses.

Raymund Basubas, the managing director of Vienna Kaffeehaus said that the restaurant is presently going through a “very interesting phase” right now.

Starting off as franchisees in 2007, the present owners was able to buy the whole Vienna Kaffeehaus trade name, Basubas shared that it has gone through a lot of changes and they are happy with the present turnout of the business.

Basubas said that they are enjoying the increase of customers by the day since they see that “Vienna is very unique.”

He said that like other restaurants, they are positioning Vienna as a place for fine dining but then what is different is it is a casual café that is good for small meetings and gatherings.

“Vienna is really unique, there are a lot of restaurants but then, Vienna is more than just a restaurant since we offer very good coffee but compared to other coffeeshops, it is not just a coffeeshop, but a restaurant,” Basubas said who added that this is why they chose to franchise Vienna over other present establishments.

He added that it is harder to market it that way but it’s what makes Vienna different from the rest.

This is the reason why Vienna would soon be offering franchising said Basubas who shared that this is part of their re-organization.

According to him, they are setting up the proper department that would look into the development of Vienna in the coming years.

Part of the growth they would want to see is the presence of Vienna in different parts of the country by targeting 20 branches in three years. This including three more branches for this year.

Basubas said that they are presently looking for potential locations but he said that they are not considering malls in the meantime since they would want to maintain the reputation of Vienna as a place for meeting and gatherings where privacy is respected.

Aside from this, he said that they have also made up a commissary in order to standardize their products in all branches. Presently, Vienna has three branches in Cebu, one in Gorordo, the other in Banilad and a new branch in The Orchard Hotel in Mandaue. They also have two franchised branches in Bacolod and another two in Cagayan.

Basubas said that they are hoping to have more if they would already have their franchising department by the second quarter of this year. So far, there have been a lot of inquiries already for franchise packages said Basubas but they still need to finalize this although he said that it would amount to P4 million to P5 million.

So far, Basubas said that they are happy that more and more people are availing their services like during the holiday seasons where they were fully booked for small gatherings where there functions rooms can accommodate 20 to 30 people.

He shared that a lot of people are also encouraged to hold their functions in Vienna since they adjust to the budget of their clients on what they could serve for a particular amount and what they could compromise on where everyone is happy.