CIR Food Finishes Tests, Prepares Rita Restaurant Franchise Plan

After almost a full year of testing their ristorante Italiano menu, the managers of the Beijing flagship eatery Rita believe they have got the mix right to sell franchise copies.

"We needed exactly the right combination of sound, ambiance, service, price, and of course food quality and taste to appeal to the Chinese customer," says Oscar Marchisio, General Manager of CIR Food, the owners of Rita.

The company has sought and achieved the atmosphere of a typical Italian restaurant in Italy, said Marchisio.

"Its Italian with a twist of Chinese",  says Marchisio. "It doesn t try to force the Italian taste. Because of the wide variety of menu choices  we re not just pizza and coffee  we believe this concept can exist in a variety of spaces, from a tiny Italian style caf in 15 square metres to a large ristorante over 100 square metres."

CIR Food plans to start Rita franchise operations in summer 2004.