Pizza 4P's - Delivering Wow, Sharing Happiness to the planet and the people

Since 2011, Pizza 4P's have been serving delicious food and unforgettable service to diners in Vietnam and Cambodia across more than 25 stores. 4P’s currently have four business units: Restaurants, Cheese production, Cheese wholesale and Dairy retail. With the vision to create a world in which individuals gently respect each other and appreciate the earth, society and their own existence, Pizza 4P's are making real impacts on the life of everyone around. Our Green Interview Series today has the honour to interview Kazuya, Brand Strategy & Growth Director at Pizza 4P's to learn more about the great works at Pizza 4P's.

Tram Anh: First of all, thank you so much for participating in our Green Interview Series. Pizza 4P's has captured the heart of many foodies in Vietnam and Cambodia, and I am myself a big fan of the food, and especially the sustainability aspect of the business. Could you please share with us since when have sustainability practices been integrated in the daily operation of Pizza 4P's?

Kazuya: As a company, we created a sustainable report for the first time last year as an indicator to measure how sustainable our company is, this is one of the practices to show our message for partners (employees) to promote daily sustainable operation. And after the Sustainability Report was published, a viable change in the perception of sustainability among our partners (employees) within the company actually occurred. We also received positive feedbacks from the outsiders that they were truly inspired by our Sustainability Report and started taking small actions since then.

To view the report in ENGLISH: https://bit.ly/3lIf8lA

To view the report in VIETNAMESE: https://bit.ly/3nPMMZ9

Tram Anh: Why do you think is it so important for business owners to consider sustainability when it comes to their business practices? What factors go into developing a corporate strategy for sustainability?

Kazuya: Sustainability is the foundation for doing any business. All businesses which look towards a future on this planet need to be sustainable. If we consider our business for a short time only, but we would like to do business for a very long term (50 years, 100 years etc.), we have to find a sustainable way due to indispensable rather than corporate strategy.

Tram Anh: With regard to the F&B industry, what does sustainability actually mean?

Kazuya: "Earth to People" is the concept of our menu. This is our expression of gratitude to all ingredients which come from Earth. We appreciate food as life and it is our commitment to serving safe and fresh foods directly from Earth. Sustainability is important for maintaining this one and only Earth, all F&B businesses can get various ingredients because of this Earth, and it is the precious natural gifts to our customers. This is the ultimate reason F&B businesses need to think “Sustainability” deeply.

Pizza4P's is pursuing the concept of Farm to Table. It is a concept that promotes serving safe and fresh foods directly from producer (farm) to consumer (table), under consistent management.

Tram Anh: What are some common misconceptions that most business owners have about sustainability, as it relates to their operations?

Kazuya: Still many companies consider sustainability as CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) which is something not related to their business directly but doing good (donation or charity). But now the global trend of corporate sustainability is not CSR anymore but more about CSV (Creating Shared Value), which means the business itself is contributing to the environment or society. Private companies should think more about how we can create positive impacts through our business activities.

Solar energy from panels installed on 4P's buildings' rooftop

Tram Anh: Overall, what are the biggest hurdles to sustainability on a business level? How is Pizza 4P's coping with them?

Kazuya: One of the challenging parts of promoting sustainability within the business is a consensus building. It is clear that the private sector should invest more on sustainability but lot of internal discussion about its cost spending is required in reality.

Also, it is important to look the long-term impacts rather than the short-term profit. Because most of the sustainable initiative doesn’t creat the benefit in short term, but medium or long term. If the company is in a status that is not able to see the long term benefit, it would be difficult to promote sustainability.

Tram Anh: Could you share with us an inspiring story that Pizza 4P's has on the journey to become more sustainable?

Kazuya: Last year, Pizza 4P's decided to tackle the country's serious waste problem head-on and adopted a "zero-waste" concept in Cambodia. After publishing a sustainable report in 2020, one of the readers' most interesting topics when I took the survey was Waste Management. As waste is becoming one of the most critical issues in Cambodia, we wanted to contribute to providing a solution to that problem from our restaurant and raise awareness about this issue within the country. We also issue Zero Waste Report in 2021!

You can find the 2021 Sustainability Report here.

Tram Anh: And finally, what’s the best advice you could give other F&B business owners regarding this important topic?

Kazuya: A restaurant is a place where you can easily interact with many customers, and we believe that it is very effective for spreading sustainability to many people and raising awareness. It is also necessary to understand that ingredients are limited resources from the earth, and if you are doing business from a long-term perspective, there is no guarantee that you will be able to continue in the same way for a long time without being aware of sustainability. We are also very far from perfect and what we would like to do, but if we can share our activity for other, would be happy!　

We hope that this interview with Kazuya helps you understand more about the meaning and potential impacts of pursing sustainable business concepts that create positive values for both the planet, society and the economy. You can visit Pizza 4P's at multiple locations in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phnom Penh, or simple order online for yummy yummy food to be delivered straight to your doors (of course in eco-friendly packaging!).

You can read more about other inspiring businesses in our Green Interview Series!