Sobrang cheesy!

Dining on haute cuisine prepared by the best and brightest culinary stars in town is part and parcel of being a food writer. However, sampling the more popular food items is the other fun aspect of the job. Which is a good thing. Because when one is subjected to those tempting commercials on television, it can be difficult to resist. In the case of the new Greenwich Xtreme cheese pizzas, saying yes to one’s cheesy cravings is practically a certainty.

That Filipinos love cheesy pizzas is bolstered by the popularity of Greenwich’s new offerings. “From January to mid-May, our consumers have enjoyed more than two million slices of our Xtreme Cheese pizzas,” says Anne Michelle Pador, Greenwich PR and corporate affairs manager. “We have consumed more than 500,000 kilos of seven kinds of cheeses combined.”  

It takes seven cheeses to make an overloaded pizza: mozzarella, cheddar, Edam, blue (or bleu) cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan, and Greenwich’s own special cheese.

Variants of the new Greenwich pizza include the Philly Cheese Steak Overload, which is topped with half a pound of roast beef, cheddar, mozzarella and cream cheese; and Cheesy Bacon Burger Overload, a meaty alternative with bacon strips, juicy beef burger, cheddar, mozzarella, special cheese and a tasty cheese drizzle. But for cheese lovers, the best variant, by far, is the 7-Cheese Overload with seven kinds of cheese: mozzarella, cheddar, Edam, blue (or bleu) cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan, and Greenwich’s own special cheese.

“We realize that a significant chunk of our market likes overloaded pizzas,” says Suzanne P. Cruz, Greenwich research and development department head. She shares that the company is serious about research and keeping up-to-date with worldwide developments, and a team is tasked to come up with new flavors and variants. In addition, they attend international pizza expos, the latest of which was held in Las Vegas. “There is a need to be more exposed to the latest trends so that we can anticipate and respond adequately to the needs of our clientele,” Suzanne adds. “We try to find inspiration for new flavors. We look for new opportunities, and we want to be accessible to our customers.”

“Our target market is the Yndies — or the Young Indies,” says Greenwich marketing director Luis Velasco III. “This is the fun, adventurous sector that is always on the go; the ones who work and play hard.”

While the trend of using gluten-free dough that is gaining popularity abroad hasn’t caught on locally, the use of freshly-rolled dough has gained a favorable response from the majority of Greenwich’s customers. This has a positive impact on Greenwich’s expansion plans. “We can bring it anywhere. There is no need for a full-size commissary,” says Luis U. Velasco III, marketing director. He continues, “We are conscious of taste and have defined the attributes of the pizzas that Filipinos prefer. Among these are: no sour taste; a hint of sweetness; a lot of meat; cheese to enhance flavor; and a soft, chewy crust. While Greenwich took a risk in including the strongly-flavored and highly aromatic blue cheese in its 7-Cheese Overload variant, “it is an accent flavor that lends a tangy taste.”

Suzanne P. Cruz, Greenwich research and development department head, and  Anne Michelle Pador, Greenwich PR and corporate affairs manager:“We try to find inspiration for new flavors. We look for new opportunities, and we want to be accessible to our customers.”

As someone who loves blue cheese, however, I wouldn’t mind if blue cheese took center stage.

“Our target market is the Yndies — or the Young Indies,” says Luis Velasco. “This is the fun, adventurous sector that is always on the go; the ones who work and play hard.” He shares that as the leading pizza brand in the Philippines with more than 50 percent of the proverbial pie, “the biggest challenge is growing the market” rather than gaining market share from competitors. “At Greenwich, we feel that competing with our competitors is secondary now.”