We returned to OTK Company.
Having been contacted, Ellie arrived from the building right next door. Kim Jae-hak picked up the coffee cup that the secretary had brought.
His hand holding the cup trembled, as if his excitement hadn’t yet subsided.
He forced a smile.
“Oh, what’s wrong with me? Just a moment.”
I was surprised seeing him like this, but I pretended to be calm and said, “It’s okay, drink slowly.”
The Kim Jae-hak I knew in the military was the type to speak his mind.
He gave clear and precise instructions to the junior soldiers, and if a senior soldier acted out of line, he would stand up to them or get angry.
The old him would have fought back, even while being hit, grabbing their collar and fighting to the end. But earlier, he had been huddled up like a child being scolded by his parents.
He was always energetic and confident… Did his disability change his personality too? So much has changed since he lost his leg.
After hearing what happened inside the headquarters building, Ellie spoke.
“There wasn’t any direct physical assault, but locking the door and creating a threatening atmosphere alone constitutes intimidation or assault. Of course, they’ll deny it if an investigation starts.”
Taek-gyu said, “Judging by how they took his phone first to prevent recording, they’ve probably already deleted the CCTV footage and gotten the employees to coordinate their stories.”
I thought that was highly likely as well.
It’s not uncommon for CEOs of small to medium-sized franchises to verbally abuse or assault their drivers, secretaries, or franchisees.
Even Chae Myeong-ho’s father, Chae Dae-ho, was sued for swearing and verbally abusing a franchisee while visiting their store. It ended without charges due to lack of evidence, though.
Like father, like son, learning these things from the start. That young punk is rotten to the core already.
Ellie looked at me and asked, “You’re not going to let this slide, are you?”
Judging by her voice and expression, she seemed quite angry. Even this side of her is cute.
I nodded.
“Of course not.”
For now, we’ll deal with this issue separately later…
The stage where we could resolve things amicably is over. When I think about it, there’s no need to be so attached to saving his franchise.
There are plenty of other ways I can help him. I could arrange a comfortable job for him, or even buy him a building so he can live off the rental income.
But even if his life became easier, his once shattered pride would never be restored.
To others, it would just look like he got lucky because he served in the military with me, and there would be gossip behind his back.
If the opponent wields a sword, we must also pick up a sword and fight back. What I need to do is give him the sword.
Taek-gyu said with his arms crossed, “So, we have no choice but to use that method, huh?”
He probably knew it from the start too. The reason he hadn’t said anything until now was probably because he was waiting for me to bring it up first.
I said to Kim Jae-hak, “Do you want to sign a franchise agreement with me?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
I thought of the pizza I had in Silicon Valley.
“How about the first Korean branch of M Pizza?”
***
In South Korea, chicken is the overwhelmingly preferred choice for eating out.
However, the situation is a bit different in the United States.
A world-renowned American economist recently stated in his published book, ‘If forced to choose between chicken and pizza for dinner, who in their right mind would choose chicken over pizza?’ highlighting the American fondness for pizza.
As such, the market is already saturated, with Dice Pizza, Pizza Hot, and Mama Jones Pizza establishing a strong three-way competition.
M Pizza boldly threw its hat into the ring.
The strategy consists of three main parts. First, automate most of the process using conveyor belts and robots. Invest generously in high-quality ingredients, thanks to the saved labor costs. Finally, deliver piping hot pizza to customers by baking it one more time in an oven truck during delivery.
This business strategy proved effective, earning M Pizza praise as the most innovative and delicious pizza. It even topped a recent consumer preference survey.
I had it a few times when I was in Silicon Valley, and it was definitely delicious.
Milo Freeman, the CEO of M Pizza, flew directly to Korea after receiving my call. We happily greeted each other after a long time.
Originally, M Pizza was expanding its business network throughout California, centered around Silicon Valley.
The Big One earthquake that struck then was both a crisis and an opportunity. M Pizza immediately suspended sales at nearby locations and engaged in relief efforts.
Most of M Pizza’s branches have automated manufacturing processes, allowing them to produce five pizzas per minute, or 300 pizzas per hour.
Producing pizzas non-stop 24 hours a day as if from a factory, the oven trucks delivered the freshly made pizzas to shelters and relief centers.
Pizza is American soul food.
Refugees, finding warmth and comfort in the hot pizza amidst the difficult situation, could feel a moment of happiness.
Although they suffered significant losses at the time, this greatly enhanced M Pizza’s brand image.
Like most companies in Silicon Valley, M Pizza had to relocate its headquarters. They re-established themselves in Chicago, a major city in northeastern Illinois.
Since relocating, Milo has been rapidly expanding stores across the United States. To achieve this, they secured ample funding, and recently opened branches in New York and are aggressively marketing.
From what I heard, his co-founder Max is incredibly busy traveling between stores.
Milo asked me, “You’re thinking of launching M Pizza in Korea?”
“That’s right.”
I told him about the background of my sudden decision.
Milo nodded. “Even before this, the MCK Group contacted us several times regarding entering the Korean market. Their chairman even visited our headquarters in person.”
We were surprised by that.
“Really?”
I could roughly understand the situation.
Each country has different tastes and dining habits.
For example, in Korea, KFC primarily sells chicken and burgers, but in China, they also sell rice and porridge. McDonald’s Bulgogi Burger and Dice Pizza’s Bulgogi Pizza are also menus created specifically for the Korean market.
Furthermore, they need to thoroughly manage everything from store interiors and food taste to sourcing and distributing ingredients.
Therefore, it’s common to enter the market by establishing a joint venture with a company that knows the local market well and already has a distribution network.
For instance, Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, established a joint venture with the Shinsegae Group in Korea, the Tata Group in India, and AmRest in Eastern Europe.
The same applies to Baskin-Robbins 31, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Shake Shack.
M Pizza is currently the hottest pizza franchise in the United States, and they possess unique technology that other brands can’t easily imitate.
Simply bringing it to Korea would practically guarantee success. So, after unsuccessful negotiations, they launched their own brand?
“Come to think of it, the taste did seem a bit similar…”
Taek-gyu nodded. “I felt that too. Now that I think about it, they must have copied the recipe.”
I hadn’t paid much attention, thinking all pizza tastes more or less the same, but if he’s saying this, it’s likely true.
Milo smiled. “They can copy the taste, but they can’t copy the core technology.”
Naturally, they couldn’t copy the pizza robots and oven trucks.
Taek-gyu asked, “But wouldn’t oven trucks be unsuitable for Korea’s delivery environment? I don’t know about the rural areas, but delivery in the metropolitan area would be difficult due to traffic congestion.”
Milo confidently said, “We solved that problem recently.”
New York is notorious for its skyscrapers and narrow, congested streets. Truck delivery in such a place was impossible.
So, using their accumulated technology, they created a motorcycle with an oven box attached to the back. It’s called the Oven Bike.
The oven box can bake up to three pizzas at once, and just like the oven truck, it automatically preheats four minutes before arrival based on map information.
“What if an order for more than three pizzas comes in?”
Milo answered easily, “Then we can use two oven bikes or an oven truck.”
“Oh, I see.”
Operating the oven bikes has been successful.
New Yorkers can now enjoy pizza with melted cheese and warm crust anytime.
“As you know from the reports, M Pizza is rapidly increasing its branches in the United States. With you involved, securing funds won’t be a big problem, but we lack the manpower and systems to manage international branches.”
The United States isn’t just one country, but a federation of 50 states. Focusing solely on that market is already a challenge.
“To launch immediately, we would need to establish a joint venture.”
Launching independently by establishing a corporation has the advantage of keeping all the profits, but it would take several more years to achieve.
Milo nodded. “Yes. We’ve had similar discussions in the UK and Japan. In Korea, we’ve been contacted by Rite, Shinsegae, SPD, and others, besides MCK.”
Rite and Shinsegae are among the top 10 conglomerates, with large distribution networks encompassing department stores, supermarkets, and shopping malls.
SPD is a franchise specialist company with decades of experience operating various brands.
If we were to establish a joint venture, which of these companies would be the best partner?
As always, since I’m not well-versed in these matters, I decided to ask an expert.
I called CEO Im Soo-mi.
[Hello, CEO Kang Jin-hoo.]
“It’s not a big deal, but I have a question for you.”
[Yes, please ask.]
I explained the situation and then asked, “…Which of these companies would be the best to partner with?”
Im Soo-mi replied as if there was no need to think it over.
[In my opinion…]
***
[M Pizza Partners with Ceylon Hotel to Enter the Korean Market!]
[Silicon Valley’s Innovative Pizza Arrives in Korea]
[Pizza Made by Robots! You Can Now Eat It in Korea Too]
[M Pizza CEO Milo Expresses Delight at Meeting Korean Consumers]
[Ceylon Hotel CEO Im Soo-mi Declares Intention to Make M Pizza the Best Pizza Franchise in Korea!]
“The articles are out already.”
Opening the article, I could see a photo of CEO Im Soo-mi and Milo signing the contract and shaking hands.
The joint venture’s ownership was split 50-50.
The initial capital was 80 billion won. Despite being a food service business, the capital was large because of the high initial investment costs, such as installing conveyor belts and robots in stores and introducing oven trucks and oven bikes.
When distribution companies with department stores or supermarkets enter the franchise business, they usually start by opening locations in their own buildings.
Ceylon Hotel doesn’t have department stores or supermarkets, but it does have the luxury Ceylon Hotel and the business hotel Ceylon Stay.
CEO Im Soo-mi plans to open the first location at the Ceylon Hotel in Namsan, and then gradually introduce it to Ceylon Stay locations nationwide.
For now, they plan to increase the number of directly managed stores rather than franchises. Despite not actively recruiting franchisees, franchise inquiries poured in from everywhere.
The flagship store will be located at the Ceylon Hotel in Namsan.
Consumers welcomed the news of M Pizza’s entry into Korea with open arms.
– lol, awesome! M Pizza is finally coming to Korea!
– Is it good?
– Isn’t all pizza the same?
– What are you talking about? M Pizza is like the Nphone of smartphones, or Shake Shack of hamburgers. The taste is on a different level compared to Dice Pizza or Pizza Hot.
– I want to try it because it’s made by robots, it’s so cool.
– How will they do delivery in Korea? It’ll be hard for oven trucks to navigate.
– They’ll probably use oven bikes like in New York.
– They won’t deliver from the Ceylon Hotel flagship store, right?
– Will they come to the Ceylon Hotel in Jeju?
– Are they not taking franchise inquiries? I want to open one.
On the other hand, pizza franchises facing a powerful new competitor were all on high alert.
Meister Pizza was created by benchmarking M Pizza. However, they only copied the taste and failed to replicate the core elements like the robots and oven delivery.
But now, the real M Pizza is coming to Korea!
