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Updated Monday, March 8, 2010 9:51 am TWN, By Cynthia Huang, The China Post



	The main dining area of the buffet is easily visited by around 550 food goers on any weekend morning. The buffet has made Taiwanese army dishes into a recent local trend. (Akie Ang, The China Post) More Photos (2)

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Army food is good, cheap and trendy

To minimize staffing expenditures, everyone of the five-person management team help out the 16 eatery workers by serving food, washing dishes, and even dicing vegetables in the kitchen. The eatery was also able to reduce two full time equivalents by setting up a designated area for customers to return their used dishes.

The real catch is the good publicity. As popular as it is, the breakfast buffet only brings in 10 percent of the eatery's total revenues. According to Chou Yen-chung from the management team, the morning shift's real purpose is to drive traffic to lunch and dinner hours. Lunch and dinner menus, for example, were placed on each table as a promotion, and Chou said that they have noticed a strong correlation between the number of breakfast diners and the revenues made from lunch and dinner.

Although the management team does not disclose the total profits, they said the breakfast buffet itself went from running a NT$350,000 total loss in the first month to gaining NT$1 million in monthly revenue.

Develop personal relationships with customers

”It only takes an eye contact between a customer and me to acknowledge our friendship,” said Huang. He has been eating at the breakfast buffet every morning for two years — not because of the free food for employees, but to interact with customers. Huang would walk around, introduce himself, and note every customer feedback, good or bad, significant or minor.

The management team holds morning meetings every day and adjusts their offerings based on that feedback. The tables in the main lobby, for instance, were a direct result of customers' suggestion to shorten waiting times.

The low price strategy serves as the main competitive advantage, but it is certainly not the only value proposition.

”Quality over profits is our motto,” said Manager Lai Ching-fu. He said that the eatery will never risk food quality to increase profits or margins. Despite the many customer suggestions to raise buffet price, Lai said the team will focus on marketing the business characteristics. “We are not at the top, but we're the only. We don't have the best food, but all customers say it tastes good. They come to the buffet because we are unique.”

This military-style buffet is located at No.20, Sec.1, Changsha St., Taipei, and is open 365 mornings a year, from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (servings end at 9 a.m.).

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