THE BBK Group is planning an aggressive expansion for its BBK bibingka or baked rice cake and coffee brand as it aims to open at least 100 new stores this year, according to its top official.
“We’re very aggressive this year. Of course, being in a pandemic, the planned expansion was put on hold. So, this year, we’re opening at least 100 stores for the BBK (bibingka and coffee) brand. It’s very conservative,” BBK Group Founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard V. Sanz said during an interview on the sidelines of a recent press conference in Quezon City.
“The focus of our expansion is having bigger stores and having a better store experience. We’re targeting about 100 more stores,” he added.
BBK bibingka and coffee currently has 280 stores. If the expansion plan is realized, it would bring the total number of branches to 380 stores, Mr. Sanz said.
BBK’s planned expansion would be focused on areas outside Metro Manila, he said, adding that the ratio is typically 50% owned by the BBK Group and 50% owned by franchisees.
“We’re opening [a branch in] SM Bataan in May. We are opening [in] San Pedro, Laguna. We are also opening in Tagaytay,” Mr. Sanz said. “Our strategy is still anchored on being in the malls.”
Although BBK has seen “huge success” in malls, there is also a trend among stores to open branches outside of them, he said.
“That’s what we’re also exploring. I think a big chunk of the new stores we’re opening will also be independent stores,” Mr. Sanz said, citing al fresco dining and parks, and even some stores with a drive-through.
He said BBK’s expansion is driven by surging demand and the shift of employees to a work-from-home (WFH) arrangement.
“There is a demand for specialty products, specialty coffee. Our expansion is targeted outside of Metro Manila because the area is already saturated,” Mr. Sanz said.
“Having WFH allowed a lot of employees who were previously in Manila to relocate in the provinces. Companies allowed them to just stay or do remote work. The industrialization of cities outside of Metro Manila is also a big factor. We also have seen a lot of increase in spending power in areas like Pampanga, Clark, [and] Pangasinan,” he added.
Mr. Sanz said BBK Group is considering the reopening of its overseas BBK bibingka stores within the year after these were shut down due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
“We used to have three stores in Dubai but they closed down during the pandemic. We’re now exploring talks again with other partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and also in Qatar. So hopefully, within the year, we’ll be able to reestablish our stores outside the Philippines,” Mr. Sanz said.
“We’re targeting to reopen UAE, Qatar, and hopefully Singapore. That’s what we’re looking at,” he added.
Aside from BBK bibingka and coffee, the BBK Group also has other brands such as the HEYBBK all-day café and Butternut Bakery. For these brands, the group is planning a “conservative” expansion plan, he said.
“For Butternut, it’s a specialty cake and bakery, we have 14 stores, but we want to close the year with 25 stores so we’re planning around 11 more stores. For HEYBBK, we might open three more stores to close the year with five stores,” Mr. Sanz said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave