カルフォニアピザキッチン リチャード ローゼンフィールド氏 インタビュー
U.S. chain puts new spin on pizza
California-based casual dining restaurant takes on Japan
Staff report
In early February, California Pizza Kitchen, a leading American-based casual dining chain, signed a franchise contract with WDI Corporation of Japan, which operates American restaurants in Japan, including Hard Rock Cafe and Tony Roma's. This contract enables WDI to open and operate CPK restaurants in Japan, Guam and the North Mariana Islands.
 Richard L. Rosenfield, co-founder and co-CEO of California Pizza Kitchen, talks about his popular dining chain. |
Excerpts from the interview follow:
Japan Times: How did you start?
Rosenfield: My partner Larry Flax and I started a very unique pizza restaurant in 1985 in Beverly Hills. We served original pizzas that you couldn't taste anywhere else, and eventually established a premium pizza segment. Today, we have over 150 operations in the United States, Hawaii and overseas countries.
JT: It has taken you quite some time to enter the Japanese market.
Rosenfield: That's because we have been enjoying very good business in the U.S. We have been limiting our franchise and expanded only when we could find a good restaurant operator. We are exceptionally careful in whose hands we put our brand in.
JT: Why the entrance now?
Rosenfield: Today, we have four franchises in the Philippines, one in Singapore, one in Jakarta, one in Kuala Lumpur, three in Hong Kong, and one in Shanghai. The operator for all these franchises handled Tony Roma's, and that is how they introduced us to WDI.
We were very impressed with WDI, and agreed to sign a contract with them. Our joint business plans are progressing, and we plan to open two restaurants in and around Tokyo toward the year-end. We plan to increase our operations to 15 in ten years' time.
JT: Tell us a little about your menus.
Rosenfield: A pizza is a canvas and you can paint on it all day long. My partner Larry and I love cooking, and we have been creating and inventing most of the menus over the years.
Barbecue chicken pizza has been a big hit since we started. Thai chicken pizza and Peking duck pizza are also popular. But traditional pizzas such as pepperoni are also popular. That's why we appeal to non-pizza lovers as well as pizza lovers.
In addition to our unique pizza offerings, we also have CPK original pasta, sandwich, salad, soup and dessert menus, with our salads being received extremely well by women.
JT: What is your position in the restaurant category? Who is your target?
Rosenfield: In the U.S., we are defined as a full-service casual dining restaurant. We are not categorized in the fast food or pizza restaurant segment. We are after quality-oriented customers, and not quantity-oriented persons. This means that the more sophisticated the neighborhood we operate, the better we do our business. We create good food for the sophisticated, and we seek to maintain the same stance and approach in Japan.
