Can Reggio's Pizza do business in foreign companies such as Japan and Taiwan :) ?

Question

I have enjoyed Reggio's Pizza and I want them to share some of their recipes and expand to Japan and Taiwan because of their pizza.

Answer 1

Of course it's possible. An if you have the financial backing, maybe you could open a franchise shop yourself. In Taiwan, people go crazy over foreign food. And if a foreigner runs it, it is almost certain to succeed.

Answer 2

I am not sure how most franchises do in Japan. Currently there are 4 to 5 competitive pizza chains in one area. You will need to put a lot of effort into advertisement, and even than the results might still be unpredictable >> Japanese like big brand names, but they are also a highly conservative people (quite contradicting sometimes).

Most new products (snacks, food, etc.) sold in supermarkets or convenience stores, usually begin in Sapporo and Osaka (strangely, they do not start with Tokyo). If they sell well in these 2 cities, it is 99% guarantee that they will do fairly well in other parts of Japan including Tokyo.

Mac Donalds does fairly well versus Burger King. Maybe you will find 20 shops to 1 in Tokyo, or none at all (sadly the Burger King shop I used to go to closed down). This is because the price of Mac D was comparatively low.

Based on my friends opinion and me, I usually buy pizza from the most cheapest place first. If the taste is not good, than we move up to another pizza shop with more affordable prices. Dominoes and Pizza Hut are fairly good, but their prices are quite high to order on a daily basis (you will need to spend around 30USD just for “ONE” L size pizza). However these chains do well, because they are a well known “name”. I have seen a new chain called “San Pedros”, which seems to be doing well (now that they have two franchises within the area a live in). Their prices are more affordable than Dominoes and Pizza Hut, and their pizza is quite good.

What I recommend if you ever decide to take the big step forward into Japan, is talk to other foreign franchise owners in Japan (Domino’s, PHut, etc.) and see how the market for pizza’s are at the moment.