Tagum City, Davao del Norte–A homegrown company of coffee shops has started franchising as it intends to grow its brand through the system.

Ruel D. Morales, marketing manager of Kreios Corp., operator of Chicco di Caffe, said the company is looking at adding four more branches within the first quarter of the year, all through franchising.

Two of the proposed branches, to be located in the soon-to-open malls of SM Group in Lanang in Davao City and in General Santos City, are both to be franchised, Morales said.

He added that aside from the two branches, there are still other inquiries for franchise both in Luzon and the Visayas. “We are looking at new markets,” he said just after its first branch here opened Sunday.

Aside from streamlining its operations, the company has also hired a Manila-based company, GMB Franchising Developers to help it in developing its franchising package.

Noel E. Navarro Jr., operator of the Tagum coffee shop, said he decided to embark on running the business because of its potentials.

“I like what I see (about the food traffic in the coffee shop),” said Navarro, a nurse whose family has been into businesses in the city.

Before deciding to franchise the coffee, Navarro said he conducted a due diligence on the coffee market in the city and concluded that he could still compete even when there are already coffee shops in this city of about 216,000 people based on the 2007 National Statistics Office data.

“Tagum is really booming,” said Navarro, who postponed studying medicine to concentrate on the business. He took note that businesses not only from the nearby Davao City but other areas have been sprouting.

Navarro, who also trained as a barista like the other staffmembers of the coffee shop, added that what attracted him to the brand, aside from being a good business venture, is that the company is not only providing him with a relatively cheaper franchise at P100,000 ($2,2258.95 @ $1=P44.26) with no royalty fee for one year in a five-year agreement.

Right after receiving the application of Navarro, the company also decided to “study the market” and eventually granted the franchise application,” said Morales.

The company has already 10 coffee shops with two of them located in Manila at the SM City Manila and Robinsons Galleria. It abandoned its Cebu City coffee shop because of poor location, But Morales said the company has started looking for a place in the city as well as eveluating the inquiries for franchise.

The company is also planning to go into a “full diner” so it could not only increase its profitability, but also satisfy the craving not only for coffee but for other food items of its loyal customers. “This is the new vision of the company,” he said, explaining that this is not only because of the cut-throat competition of the coffee shop industry, but also because its customers have also been urging it to offer more.

The coffee shop is also known to offer the  “coffee halo-halo,” a bestseller with about 15 cups per branch sold in a day. “That is our signature product,” Morales said of the coffee delicacy concocted by its consultant, Supt. Abraham C. Rojas, who finished a  two-week barista course at the American Barista and Coffee School in Portland, Oregon.

Rojas earlier told the TIMES the company is nurturing its coffee shop to become at par or even better than other coffee shops, including those foreign brands.