SCHOOL BUDDIES REVIVE CLASSIC AMERICAN DINER EXPERIENCE IN PH

ABUSINESS venture gone awry stoked a former OFW’s desire to create an independent brand that would offer interesting food choices and satisfy Filipinos’ cravings for American food.

Teaming up with the same friends who joined him in their first business venture, Philip Danao spearheaded an R&D groundwork to find out what food business could disrupt the Philippine food scene. And that breathed life into the All Original American diner.

“We noticed there hasn’t been any new innovation in the pizza segment. We’re been on the lookout for trends that would make our food venture an interesting one, something that would click with the customers, something unusually good tasting without straying from the mainstream,” he said.

Starting with an initial investment of P4 million to P5 million per store, Danao and five of his former high school classmates put up the first two branches at Eastwood Mall and Robinson’s Magnolia in 2019 and later on branched out to another store at Ayala Malls Circuit.

Danao was daunted by the task of managing these stores at the same time. As three of his partners are also active entrepreneurs with other businesses to manage, while the other two are OFWs working in Singapore and Hong Kong, he was designated as the all-around business manager.

The group previously invested in a restaurant franchise that folded before the pandemic struck. Without the proper training and franchise manual, Danao and his partners were grasping at straws to save a business that was bound to fail.

Later did he realize that his background in finance and project management, working for the United Nations and global NGOs, prepared him for his role as entrepreneur. His last project was in Myanmar before he came back to the Philippines for good.

business, an investment he pray will be worth his sacrifices. He managed to save up while working as an OFW, with the goal of establishing a business once he got back home.

In their second attempt at comanaging the business, they had to revisit their experiences from the failed collaboration to gather insights and create a checklist of red flags to avoid.

“We made sure to put our learnings to good use, lest we’ll fall into same pitfalls we did in our past franchise. We carefully studied the local food business to determine what can be our advantage over known brands and how can we offer better food to customers,” Danao said.

Full-menu diner

One of the unique value offerings of All Original American is the diner’s signature “Pizza by the Meter”. Unlike the traditional round or square pizza, the All Original American pizza is an elongated pizza that stretches up to one meter, covered with edge-to-edge toppings on a bed of wheat bread instead of crust.

“The exciting part is that customers have an option to try out different set of toppings for every 20 centimeters.

So for a meter long pizza, you’ll have at least five kinds of toppings. Some of our customers call it the Boodle Fight Pizza. The experience is fun and filling,” Danao said.

Converge Launches

GLOBAL SERVICES, APPOINTS NEW GM

ICT Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Converge

(Converge SG), the international unit of leading fiber broadband and technology solutions provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc., welcomed the addition of Victor Koh to lead Converge SG as general manager and head of international and wholesale sales. Koh will be responsible for managing its operations while driving revenue growth by extending connectivity services and fiber optic capacity to international markets.

“Converge has a good opportunity to develop a strong presence in the international carrier space. I’m excited to fulfill my role and support Converge to become the partner of choice for regional international carriers especially as the market becomes more competitive in broadband services,” he said, certain that his 30 years of experience in the information technology and telecommunications industry, will help the company innovate more and extend its reach to new territories.

Converge CEO and founder Dennis Uy said the company’s international unit is now up and running, fully geared up to service enterprise customers outside the Philippines.

The brand may sound foreign, but the All Original American diner, despite its colonial vibe, is a home-grown Filipino enterprise offering mainstream menu that Filipinos learned to love when American diners were a craze in the early ‘80s to ‘90s.

A personal favorite of Danao is the Quattro Cheese Pizza and the well-marinated chunky ribs which are baked for six hours in the oven. The restaurant uses only the finest meat cuts approved by the USDA, and even the chicken wings used for the unli-chicken meal are from the US. Vegetables are locally-sourced, giving premium to local enterprises. Coping with crisis Operations took a nose-dive during COVID-19 pandemic. With the on and off lockdown protocol, all businesses were mostly shuttered throughout the first half of 2020. All Original American pivoted from serving in-store to packing lunch boxes for the

Filipinos learned to love when American diners essential sectors as orders poured in from donors and from institutional employers like the hotels and accommodation facilities that temporarily operated as quarantine centers. supervisors to run place,

Orders further spiked when malls were designated as COVID-19 vaccination centers and the preferred location for the rollout of the National ID program.

The diner also strengthened its social media presence by engaging more customers on FaceBook and Instagram.

With the relaxation of COVID protocols, the business faced the reality of having to compete head on as more and more food chains started reopening. While the pick-up was slow, there was already a cult following of the restaurant by that time. The diner became a popular hang-out of locales and foreigners who are adventurous and fearless in their food choices.

“We realize the opportunities presented by wholesale as a driver for our enterprise business and Converge will continue to capitalize on that. Converge SG stands ready to enable telecommunication firms, carriers, cable companies, and other businesses in delivering intra-Asia and Trans-Pacific connectivity capabilities for their operations,” he said.

Converge attained a Facilities-Based Operations (FBO) Licence in Singapore mid-year to deploy telecommunications infrastructure and provide connectivity services to wholesale and enterprise customers in the region. Through its global subsidiary, Converge offers a variety of international connectivity services, such as EthernetInternational Private Line (E-IPL) service, Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) service, and submarine cable capacities, among others.

The restaurant features signature while my partners put in their share

“I’ve never had formal training to run a food business, much less, a food chain. But I’ve had help from my staff. We have store managers and supervisors to help me run the place, while my partners put in their share to fund the business.

And since I’m the only one who have spare time, I am the go-to guy, the business cofounder who checks in daily and does all the gritty stuff,” he said, adding that co-owners virtually meet once a month for updates and to collegially decide on business concerns.

Danao owns 20 percent of the

“We’re still surviving. We’re not famous yet, and we’re still brand building. Competition can be intense but with what we are offering—good food, good company and the best ribs, pizzas and burgers this side of town—we are optimistic that we are in for a good ride for a long time,” Danao said.

To make some noise, the diner prepares for a publicity stunt by trying to create the world’s longest pizza come October at the All Original American branch at Ayala Malls Serin in Tagaytay City. The gimmick is in line with the celebration of the United Nations Day coinciding with the biggest beer promotion month.

Danao said the brand is also exploring the dynamic world of franchising to expand its market presence. Scalded by their failed venture, the co-owners are looking at engaging the services of a franchising consultation group to arm them with the necessary tools for expansion.