August 31, 2010Gourmet pizza brand
Pizza Capers is set to expand further into South East Asia, with plans to open new stores in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Jakarta in early 2011.
The company’s decision to take on the Asian market was sparked by the success of its first overseas store in Singapore, which opened earlier this year.
A second Singapore store is now under construction and will open in late 2010.
While Pizza Capers has always had an international vision, co-founder Anthony Russo (pictured left) admits the growth of the brand overseas has taken him by surprise.
“The Singapore store has performed far above our expectations. When it first opened, we expected the majority of customers would be expatriates. However, we’ve found that 99.9 percent of our customers are Singapore nationals. There’s a huge demand for our products,” Russo says.
“As with other countries, people are very health-conscious nowadays and there is a big push for healthier food with fresh, quality ingredients,” he says.
“People are also more time poor. They want delicious, restaurant quality food that is quick and convenient. The Singapore market was ready for something new and it seems we opened our store at the right time.”
Russo says the new South East Asian stores will be owned by expatriate businessmen Paul McNamara and Matt Boylan, who also own the Singapore store.
“We are looking forward to this next chapter of our business,” he says.
“We put in a lot of effort laying the groundwork for the Singapore store, so we are confident that our concept and our gourmet pizzas will be just as successful in Malaysia, Indonesia and China.”
To find out more about the Pizza Capers success story, watch QBR’s exclusive interview with the founders Anthony Russo and Scott Geiszler here.
