The Pizza Company, owned by Minor Food Group Plc, plans to spend Bt200 million to open 20 new branches and renovate its existing branches.

Wichai Pornpratang, vice president of marketing, said that the company would spend Bt100 million to open 20 new outlets this year, increasing its branches nation-wide from 150 to 170.

The company will also cough up the same amount to refurbish all of its eateries to attract more upmarket customers.

Wichai said that the company hoped to build on its sales, which in the first quarter of this year grew 16 per cent from the same period in 2005.

He attributed the growth to a buy-one-get-one-free marketing campaign in March.

"We will have a new marketing campaign every year and have increased our marketing budget by 20 per cent from last year," he said.

The marketing budget has been pushed higher to Bt250 million this year from Bt200 million in 2005.

 "Our marketing policy will focus on quality and food safety for our customers and also offer special prices to drive our sales growth up to 10 per cent this year," he said.

The Pizza Company recorded sales of Bt2.4 billion last year and enjoyed a 66 per cent share of the Bt3.6-billion pizza market. Delivery sales accounted for 40 per cent of its sales, restaurant sales 40 per cent, and take-out the rest.

Wichai said that the company would target the middle market with its new X-pan pizza, changing the pizza shape from a circle to a square priced at Bt199. The X-pan menu was launched on April 1 and has received positive feedback from customers since, Wichai said.

"The X-pan is the first of our pizzas offered at a single price, while the prices of our circular pizzas vary depending on the topping," he said.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation