Great Italian Cuicine Without Wait
4277
APRIL 4, 2011
JAMES L. HESKETT
RICHARD LUECKE
Porcini’s Pronto:
“Great Italian cuisine without the wait!”
In January 2011 Tom Alessio, marketing vice president at Porcini’s, Inc., of Boston, was pondering issues raised by a potential expansion of his company’s restaurant business. The domestic market for full-service chain restaurants was nearing its saturation point at both in-city and shopping mall locations. The big chains were looking overseas for growth, but as a small regional player, Porcini’s had neither the resources nor brand power to pursue that option. It needed a domestic avenue for growth. Alessio had persuaded Porcini’s senior executives to consider opening limited-menu outlets,
Porcini’s “Pronto,” to serve interstate highway travelers. Most competitors serving this market were fast-food or low-end outlets. Alessio believed that Pronto could offer a quality difference that travelers would value, but the challenges were substantial. Could Pronto’s profitably provide a limited selection of Porcini’s standard menu at moderate prices without jeopardizing the company’s reputation for excellent food? Could it maintain Porcini’s famously high service standards? Could it profitably break into a market occupied by established competitors?
Food and service quality were only two aspects of the challenge. Porcini’s—a slow-growing, privately held enterprise—would need to roll out its new restaurants quickly in order to establish itself as a powerful brand. With limited capital and access to prime real estate sites, however, that seemed unlikely unless it adopted either a franchising or a syndication model of ownership. The first risked the company’s quality reputation; the second might produce a pace of growth that the company was ill-equipped to handle.
Working with VP of Operations Kurt Jensen, HR director Wanda Halloran, and Chief Chef
Mariana Molise, Alessio had sketched out tactics for facilitating Pronto’s quality goals.
APRIL 4, 2011
JAMES L. HESKETT
RICHARD LUECKE
Porcini’s Pronto:
“Great Italian cuisine without the wait!”
In January 2011 Tom Alessio, marketing vice president at Porcini’s, Inc., of Boston, was pondering issues raised by a potential expansion of his company’s restaurant business. The domestic market for full-service chain restaurants was nearing its saturation point at both in-city and shopping mall locations. The big chains were looking overseas for growth, but as a small regional player, Porcini’s had neither the resources nor brand power to pursue that option. It needed a domestic avenue for growth. Alessio had persuaded Porcini’s senior executives to consider opening limited-menu outlets,
Porcini’s “Pronto,” to serve interstate highway travelers. Most competitors serving this market were fast-food or low-end outlets. Alessio believed that Pronto could offer a quality difference that travelers would value, but the challenges were substantial. Could Pronto’s profitably provide a limited selection of Porcini’s standard menu at moderate prices without jeopardizing the company’s reputation for excellent food? Could it maintain Porcini’s famously high service standards? Could it profitably break into a market occupied by established competitors?
Food and service quality were only two aspects of the challenge. Porcini’s—a slow-growing, privately held enterprise—would need to roll out its new restaurants quickly in order to establish itself as a powerful brand. With limited capital and access to prime real estate sites, however, that seemed unlikely unless it adopted either a franchising or a syndication model of ownership. The first risked the company’s quality reputation; the second might produce a pace of growth that the company was ill-equipped to handle.
Working with VP of Operations Kurt Jensen, HR director Wanda Halloran, and Chief Chef
Mariana Molise, Alessio had sketched out tactics for facilitating Pronto’s quality goals.