AFTER establishing a strong foothold in the local restaurant business for the past 20 years, Gerry’s Bar and Restaurant, formerly known as Gerry’s Grill, is positioning itself for the millennial market.
Founded by Gerry Apolinario in February 1997 as a bar in Quezon City, the restaurant’s current executives are aware of the potential of the new generation of consumers who comprises more than 50 percent of the country’s population.
In a recent interview with the BusinessMirror, Senior Marketing Manager Francis Villaluz said Gerry’s has transformed unintentionally into a family-oriented because of the demand of the times. The emergence of the millennials has pushed Gerry’s to respond to the rising demand of the market, according to Villaluz.
“We need to become relevant,” Villaluz said. “From Monday to Friday, millennials are dominant in the market.”
The millennial’s penchant for eating has been a major growth driver of Gerry’s since they have a big earning capacity and love to hang out with friends, according to Villaluz.
Millennials have been giving Gerry’s the big push for growth, he said.
Villaluz added that Gerry’s wants to be associated with active people. We have been establishing presence in places where we believe millennials tend to go, such as malls, he added.
Likewise, Villaluz said they tweaked the bar and restaurant’s menu that would attract millennials, like fish and seafood.
“Of course, they still prefer meat-based meals with generous serving of rice.”
That decision was based on a market study, according to Villaluz.
Millennials also prefer appearance on the food rather than taste, Villaluz said. Value perception is quite different to the regular customer, he added.
As much as possible, we keep the presentation of our menu pleasing to the eye, especially for millennials.
“Millennials prefer the appearance of the food,” he said. “They love to post it on their Instagram accounts.”
We also believe that millennials are receptive to our pricing scheme.
“It is 90-to-10 split with food as the bulk order.”
“Being a bar and restaurant, we are aware that we’re not the ideal spot for millennials,” he said. “But growing older they will realize that Gerry’s will remain relevant for them when they have their own families.”
Villaluz believes today is the perfect time that Gerry’s implemented its transformation as a restaurant and no longer only a bar.