浮生一千一百六十五日
必勝客（Pizza Hut）大約完成了美式餐飲業在海外市場的最華麗轉身。美國本土的Pizza Hut幾乎連個完整門堂都冇有，往往蝸居在Target、Walmart之流的大型超市出入口，作為一個簡單粗暴的外賣點餐portal而謙遜低調地存在著。然而該品牌到了中國市場即搖身一變，成了個統一規劃管理、連鎖價值穩固、品牌與服務意識完善且頗受國內中、高產消費群體青睞的“像樣的連鎖西餐廳”。
當然我們都知道另幾個共享此成功模式的美國餐飲企業分彆為McDonald（麥當勞）和肯德基（KFC），隻是這兩家相較於必勝客中國餐廳則更傾向於街坊化、親民化；星爸爸（Starbucks）也排得上這個“海外業績成功榜”，但在本土產品適應性上同樣弱勢於必勝客。
打小吃著必勝客中國連鎖西餐廳長大的我，初到美國時在Target超市大廳裡看到門可羅雀的Pizza Hut（必勝客）外賣小門鋪，心情是五味雜陳的。而必勝客（Pizza Hut）身為連鎖西餐廳的規範化和多樣化，不是在美國本土，而是在萬裡之遙的中國市場上實現了最大範疇的認可和創收，這實在是區域企業國際化轉型的一個重要成功案例。可喜可賀，本次華夏之旅，令我日日得以大快朵頤必勝客中國歡樂餐廳的滿餉勝宴。難以否認，中國真是一個巨大的golden market！
Pizza Hut is probably the very American cuisine corporate that achieved the most stunning turn-around in international markets, especially at China. Most Pizza Hut spots on American soil don’t even have dine-in space and solely exist as a simple take-out ordering portal in supermarkets like Target and Walmart. However Pizza Hut turned itself as an authentic, successful, and nation-wide restaurant franchise of American cuisine in Chinese market with unified management model, solid value chain, synchronized integrity in brand and services, and reliable customer groups from wealthy or financially comfortable Chinese. There are a few other American cuisine brands that can be counted as successful pioneers in Chinese market such as McDonald and KFC. The thing is they covered more streets and blocks at expense of cheaper price and fast-food business model, which compromised their potential becoming “premium American restaurant” in local market. Starbucks is another successful example of international market achievements of U.S. cuisine brands, and it also yields for Pizza Hut in Chinese market in terms of capability of localizing products and customizing flavors.
As used to be a child who grew up dining in a variety of fancy Pizza Hut restaurants in China, I did experience a so-called “cultural shock” upon my first arrival at U.S. years ago when I saw a shabby-ish, tiny tiny Pizza Hut ordering window that was jammed in a Target store along with other fast-food suppliers. The interesting fact is that Pizza Hut discovered an incredible business model and accomplished a triumph in operating a highly-recognizable premium American restaurant franchise not in U.S, but in China, a foreign market half-a-planet away from its hometown. For that matter, Pizza Hut deserves more research and in-depth study as it portrays a classic case of impressive penetration and evolution of a typical American brand in global scale.
Many thanks to my hilarious China trip, I get to relive those gourmet moments from my childhood with Pizza Hut’s Chinese Happy Restaurants again and again! It’s no doubt that China is such a golden market with a big heart and hospitality to everyone who likes to know it more.