Forum Archive Index - January 2004

["Allan Potts" <ajp7079@excite.com>]

Hi Snoopy,

Nice "on the ground" update re RBD in OZ.  We're out of town at the moment, but 
working on the possibility of another NZ trip within the next 12 to 14 months.  
Just got word that a family we know in Auckland is coming over to California 
after promising to do same for several years.  No doubt our low dollar has 
helped.

Think I'll ask them to do an on the ground asessment in Auckland and I'll let 
you know what their opinion is.

Cheers,

Allan




 --- On Tue 01/13, tennyson@caverock.net.nz < tennyson@caverock.net.nz > wrote:
From: tennyson@caverock.net.nz [mailto: tennyson@caverock.net.nz]
To: sharechat@sharechat.co.nz
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 13:45:04 +1300
Subject: [sharechat] RBD and the VIC factor

<br>I recently spent twelve days in Victoria, Southern New South Wales <br>and 
Sydney, and took note while I was there of the various fast food <br>operations 
I came across.<br><br>My brief impression, formed from just a few hours in 
Melbourne  and a <br>few days in Sydney is that the Australian takeaway food 
market is <br>much more fractured than the NZ market.<br><br>The big brands 
(McDonalds, Hungry Jacks and KFC) are there in force <br>and have a good 
roadside presence.   But there is a very large <br>proportion of smaller scale 
businesses.   Pizza Hutt seemed almost <br>invisible.     I only saw one outlet 
in the 5 days I was in Victoria, and <br>only one PH outlet in Sydney, that 
being a relatively obscure 'first floor' <br>operation.   RBD has decided to 
concentrate on the delivery market, so <br>that makes my observation not so 
surprising.   If customers phone you, <br>and you deliver to them it doesn't 
really matter if the business is <br>located down an obscure side 
street.<br><br>There is plenty of competition in the Pizza market in Oz.   
Pizza Hutt is <br>a significant player, but judging from what I saw this means 
5% of the <br>pizza market, not 30% as in NZ.   There are lots of independent 
Pizza <br>places.    Australia has a size of Pizza that is one larger than the 
<br>'family' Pizzas we get here in NZ.      By surface area the Oz family 
<br>Pizza looks about twice as big as the NZ one.   This means one slice 
<br>can do you for a whole lunch.     Because of the larger populations in 
<br>Sydney and Melbourne you can buy a fresh slice of pre-prepared <br>Pizza 
from a specialized Pizza shop without it having time to 'frizzle up' <br>in the 
warmer.    A huge slice of fresh gourmet Pizza for $A3.50 must <br>represent 
tough competition for the likes of Pizza Hutt!<br><br>Aussies are more than 
willing to buy mainstream takeaway food from <br>'small operators'.    There is 
a large ethnic population in both Sydney <br>and Melbourne and standards are 
high.      I was amazed to go into a <br>food court in a large shopping centre 
in Sydney and not see a single <br>food brand I recognized.    Even the golden 
arches were nowhere to be<br> found!   To some extent I am echoing Karyn's 
comments on this forum <br>from late 2003.     There is a lot of good quality 
competition in Victoria/ <br>NSW.    I am sorry the gourmet pizza promotion in 
Victoria failed, but I <br>hope that RBD has learned something from 
it.<br><br>Danny Diab, apparently makes a great success of his own Pizza Hutt 
<br>restaurants in New South Wales, and possibly this is concentrating on 
<br>the 'value' end of the market.   I am sure there is a niche there than 
<br>RBD can fill in Victoria.   I can't see PH Victoria as being the potential 
<br>money spinner the NZ Pizza Hutt operation is.   I know there are many 
<br>critics of both on this forum, but I don't think the average sharechatter 
<br>is necessarily representative of the kind of customers that PH targets. 
<br>Unlike Karyn, I'm not writing RBD off in Oz just yet!<br><br>The other 
lasting impression I had from downtown Sydney was <br>'Starbucks everywhere'.   
 There has been talk of the cannibalisation of <br>store sales in NZ and too 
many outlets, but store cannibalisation must <br>surely exist in Sydney too?   
Visually having Starbucks stores within <br>shouting distance of each other 
does seem to be how the brand 'works' <br>overseas.    But in NZ I'm not sure 
that the field of dreams philosophy <br>('build the stores and they will come') 
is enough.  With our smaller <br>population do RBD *really* understand how to 
get the Starbucks brand <br>operating profitably in NZ?<br><br>Yes I think that 
RBD has a rocky few months ahead of it, but the low <br>entry price around 
$1.20 last time I looked, more than compensates for <br>the 
risk.<br><br>SNOOPY<br><br><br>hold: RBD<br><br>PS  I can't let this post go 
without commentatiing on the other 'Vic' <br>factor, the new CEO Vicky Salmon.  
   It is good that she has upped <br>her shareholding in the company by buying 
'on market'.  Having said <br>that it w
 ould be surprising if the new CEO didn't want to take a <br>significant 
personal stake in the business.  I would normally give the <br>new CEO a 
honeymoon period.  But Salmon has been on the board for <br>years and, IMMSMC, 
was the instigator in establishing the Starbucks <br>business.     For that 
reason I don't regard her as 'new', so I am <br>prepared to stick the boot in.  
 I agree with 'greasychicken', in that I <br>would have preferred to see a 
fresh appointment made from outside <br>the company.  <br><br>In hindsight, 
perhaps ex-CEO Collier focussed too much of his <br>attention on Pizza Hutt.    
Will CEO Salmon be able to raise her eyes <br>above her coffee cup for long 
enough do do something about that low <br>flying bird that has lost so many 
feathers, KFC?<br><br><br><br>--<br>Message posted by Harry Tennyson<br> using 
Pegasus Mail 4.02<br>I have Word 97 to read 
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