COMPANY PROFILE
2013
Doppio Zero
A truly artisan passion
CompANY PROFILE
A truly artisan passion Editorial: Christian Jordan Production: Ajuanne Payne
Silent salesperson, informer, hazard cone and instructor – few industrial components are as multi-tasked as a powerful product label. And with a brand defined by world quality products, advanced technology, and principled, customer-orientated strategies, Cape Town based Rotolabel, says Sales Director Grant Watson, is ready to extend its footprint on the African continent.
Doppio Zero was brought into being in March 2002, with the business starting out of its original home in Greenside. It was a corner street style bakery and café, serving up its speciality breakfasts, thin-crust gourmet pizzas and Mediterranean café-style wares. “At that time, the concept of the bakery, or café-style restaurant, was still largely unheard of,” details Doppio Zero owner Paul Christie, “and as the ‘new kids on the block’ we received a lot of publicity, so the process was extremely successful.” Doppio Zero has, over the proceeding decade, expanded its dealings to nine restaurants through a mixture of franchise, corporate and joint venture partnerships, with its first international venture set to
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open in Alexandria, Egypt, in the very near future. Doppio Zero has very much kept its sense of being strongly tied to the neighbourhoods in which its restaurants operate, with its feel of a local business having helped its remarkable expansion since its beginnings. “We’ve always benefited a lot from word of mouth marketing,” explains Christie, “so we do a lot of community marketing – our market is very much our local community, and we do only a very limited amount of national brand marketing.” Doppio Zero’s commitment to its social responsibility runs a lot deeper than merely spreading its understandably excellent reputation, too. “We work on a community basis,” explains Christie. “We talk to
Doppio Zero
our communities, and one big social initiative of ours involves supporting schools and young, disadvantaged people. As well as the obvious social benefits this has, it also adds greatly to our PR value as well.” As Doppio Zero expands, however, its owner is looking at the wider picture. “We’re definitely looking at a bigger marketing strategy for both of our brands. As we are getting bigger, more money can be added to the marketing pot, allowing us to take it to the next level. “ The opening of Doppio Zero’s first restaurant in Egypt underlines the extent of this scope. “That is planned for the end of February. There is a fairly sizeable market in Egypt, and the Middle East, so this is very exciting for us. It’s our first foray out of
the country, and since then we’ve received a number of requests to take our brand outside of the country. However, a big challenge for us in this respect is that we rely heavily on our central bakeries, so we need to set up our restaurants with full function. Ours is a perishable product, and so we have to be able to bake them on site.” Christie hopes that the increasing prevalence of American brands, and the growing popularity of casual dining, will see Doppio Zero achieve a similar level of popularity in Egypt. “A lot of it is the same stuff, so we are hoping to top the market a little bit, as a slightly different, Italian-based offering, with enough differentiation to make inroads into the market.” It is Doppio Zero’s unfailing commitment to
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CompANY PROFILE keeping its produce fresh and innovative that keeps it at the forefront of what is an undeniably crowded market.
“At that time, the concept of the bakery, or café-style restaurant, was still largely unheard of” “We have a lot of competition here in South Africa, and there are literally only a handful of restaurants which have been there for over 50 years, because this is a fickle place. We don’t have a massive market, and we’re very aware of change. We have been fortunate recently, in the sense that the market has been fairly lazy and we haven’t seen so many big shake ups. Now,
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though, there are a lot of independent restaurants opening up – they’re smaller, sexier, owner-run places, and this segment of small restaurants represents probably our biggest competition.” This has in turn prompted a shift in Doppio Zero’s first choice of restaurant location; “Whereas before, when we could take cheap locations and end up almost starting a revival in the section as the first cool restaurant in an area, nowadays our most successful restaurants are in and around shopping centres. From a franchising view, this is a lot more secure, so we’re looking now at this kind of site as we move forward.” Doppio Zero has always been a company to place a huge emphasis on quality, and this extends right through the ingredients it employs in creating its wares. “We use local ingredients, largely because they are cost effective. We are now differentiating
Situated in Johannesburg, Unitex Corporate is a manufacturer and wholesaler of men’s and ladies fine quality garments and accessories. Southern Air Conditioning The company calls some of the country’s leading retail chains, government departments and corporate companies its clients and produces its high quality product range from its S.A.B.S approved production plant. When dealing with the Unitex team you will receive a personal service from dynamic, passionate and driven entrepreneurial managers who have over 40 years’ experience in the clothing industry. Unitex Corporate can help you to create an image and a culture that everyone at your company can be proud of. A professional company identity is proven to have a motivating effect on employees. With an in-house design and embroidery team, Unitex Corporate can make branding simple. The product range will cater for any industry from warehouse personnel to board room level including all sporting, promotional and recreational events.
11 Mooi Street Johannesburg South Africa P O Box 260028 Excom 2023 Tel: (27-11) 334 4550 Fax: (27-11) 334 0996 Cell: (27-82) 435 9855 Email: unitexcorp@tiscali.co.za Web: www.unitex.co.za
The range includes • Jerseys- Acrylic and Lambswool • Shirts / Blouses/ Pit Shirts • Golf Shirts / T-Shirts • Sweatshirts / Track Suits • Jackets / Suits • Trousers / Slacks / Skirts • Caps / Beanies / Scarves / Ties • Aprons / Work Wear / Security Uniforms
CORPORATE CLOTHING MANUFACTURERS our menu through our suppliers – for instance we have a pig farmer who has traceable, hormone-free pigs, so she makes our bacon and our sausages. We have a stoneground flour supplier in Cape Town that supplies our flour, and we import our branded Doppio flour from Italy because it’s a very select type that can’t be found here. This use of smaller, local farmers and suppliers is becoming a lot more relevant to our operations, and we’re becoming a lot more aware of supporting our local guys.” This view to a more locally-sourced, sustainable method of operating also supports Doppio Zero’s vision to push its business even further forward; “We place a lot of value on training, and people development getting our employees upskilled. We would rather pay skilled people more, have fewer of them, and manage people more effectively.” When pressed on the key to the company’s success thus far, and the elements which would ensure this continuing success into the future, Christie is unequivocal in his response. “Innovation and hospitality - making people feel like they are part of the family. We always have to keep driving innovation, and never stand still. Definitely these are the biggest aspects of our success.”
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+27 11 486 4119 www.doppio.co.za
(0)1603 618 000 info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd, Ferndale Business Centre, 1 Exeter Street. Norwich, Norfolk NR2 4QB