By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
ENTREPRENEURS Speedy and Alta Lyttle are set to open franchising for their Poke Poke restaurant and introduce the Poke bowl of raw fish, vegetables and rice to a wider audience.
“We’re in the process of finalizing our system for franchise. Hopefully, first quarter of next year,” Speedy said.
The restaurateur couple target to see franchise outlets for their popular dish and add to the current branches in SM Megamall, SM Aura, Estancia Mall, and Greenhills in San Juan City.
The Lyttles opened Poke Poke last year, together with Kel Zaguirre, head chef of the Lyttles’ first restaurant — Filipino-themed Locavore Kitchen and Drinks. Franchising will see the owners open up to 10 branches in a year.
“Originally, the plan is four to five, but as we were going through the process of having it franchised, we thought four to five is quite conservative, so we’re looking at opening 10,” Alta said.
With the target pace of expansion, they estimated to have at least 30 Poke Poke branches in five years, but concentrated in Metro Manila given its population and its residents’ familiarity with the food trend.
The dish from Hawaii has become a big trend in the United States, and restaurants have brought their own twist, adding new flavors and ingredients to the simple and healthy dish.
With added Filipino and other Asian twists to the traditional Poke bowl, the Lyttles aim to change the perception of healthy eating.
“We want to introduce to the market as a healthy fastfood, food on the go,” Speedy said, adding that Poke bowls offer satisfying food without giving a bloated feeling to the diner.
Alta adds: “We want to change the perception of fastfood and of healthy food. It’s not all veggies.”
For Locavore, the Lyttles will next put up a branch by the middle of the month on Valero Street in Makati City, and by February or March, in Conrad Hotel, to add to the current locations in Kapitolyo and in Bonifacio Global City. The target market for the restaurant is primarily families, balikbayans and expatriates.
“Our price points [are] not very expensive. The quality matches the price,” Alta said.
The next location is Nuvali, as they target to test going into the areas south of Metro Manila before expanding into the provinces.
“We’re trying to open in the south. Many people are moving into the south. That’s another target market because we’re trying to market families and communities,”she said.
Lyttles have no plans of franchising out Locavore, which has a more complex menu and set-up compared with Poke Poke.
They aim to expand to the provinces, but want to be “100% ready” before branching out from Metro Manila.
NEW CONCEPT
By next year, the restaurateurs said that they are looking at opening one more concept restaurant.
“Next year, we’ll probably roll out one more concept,” he said.
Aside from food, Alta is also in the beauty business and plans next year to open around four branches of her hair extension services salon Xtensions, which currently has 11 locations. She opened Xtensions in 2008, seeing a space in the market.
“That time when I opened Xtensions, hair extensions were so pricey, so I thought why not offer it, use it as an advantage, and make money out of it while a lot of people are offering it,” she said.
