Aiming for 10 million smiles! Pizza 4P’s essentials for sustainability

There is a restaurant which engages in urban farming in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The number of restaurants that practice urban farming to reduce waste and accomplish zero food miles is increasing in North America and Europe. However, it is surprising to find one in Vietnam, especially since the climate in Southeast Asia is hot throughout the year and isn’t ideal for farming.

The restaurant is called “Pizza 4P’s”. The place is run by a Japanese couple who formerly worked for CyberAgent, Inc. in Japan. They recently opened their 11th branch in Ho Chi Minh, employing over 1,500 staff in total. Their growth is overwhelming. “Pizza 4P’s” is now a household name, and everyone is fascinated by their delicious pizza.

Today, the economic development in Vietnam is outstanding. But CEO Yosuke Masuko revealed, “Pizza 4P’s is not just enthusiastic about making great restaurants. We have a larger vision.”

What’s on his mind and what does he respect in running a business in this rapidly growing country? We visited the newest branch “Pizza 4P’s Xuan Thuy” which opened in District 2, and interviewed Masuko Yosuke and his colleague Yuma Nagata, who is in charge of sustainability project.

Intervewee Profile: Masuko Yosuke

Founder and CEO of Pizza 4P’s. Previously worked for a trading company and CyberAgent, Inc., after finishing college. Established Pizza 4P’s in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The place is so popular it has become a focus of world-wide attention. Planning to expand business worldwide in the future, including Japan. In 2018, he won the first prize in overseas entrepreneur award by the Tokyo new business conference.

Intervewee Profile: Yuma Nagata

Pizza 4P’s environmental measures planner. Engaged in organic farming and renewable energy industry in Cambodia from 2014, moved to Vietnam in 2018. Today, he oversees the sustainability project for Pizza 4P’s.

“Edutainment” Restaurant — Pizza 4P’s making sustainability fun

The concept of the latest Pizza 4P’s branch is “Edutainment”; education with entertainment. The branch has an urban farm on site offering entertainment while providing an experience to learn about sustainability.

“In Vietnam, children are so far apart from nature, they have no chance to touch the soil. Many of them don’t know how vegetables grow or how tomatoes bear fruit.”

Raising two young children himself, Masuko is concerned about how children in Vietnam has so little contact with nature. Pizza 4P’s offer edutainment activities for children to plant saplings. They also let customers choose between vegetables produced by a contracted farmer or vegetables cultivated at the branch. Growing vegetables on site shows the safe nature of their food in plain view.

Using circular agriculture to reducing food waste

Restaurants inevitably discard a great amount of waste. Therefore, Pizza 4P’s work on reducing food waste. The newest branch has installed “aquaponics” for circular agriculture. Food waste from the kitchen are converted to compost by worms, so they can be used to grow vegetables at the restaurant. By utilizing worms, approximately 20 kilograms of garbage are composted efficiently overnight.

Moreover, worms grown by eating these food wastes are then given to fishes in the pond on the premises as feed. The fishes’ excreta are filtered from the water and carried to the roof garden as nutrients where the vegetables are cultivated.

Pizza 4P also does not use plastic drinking straws, saves energy by installing photovoltaic panels, and making energy conservation efforts.

A restaurant is a commitment to people’s happiness

Before Masuko started the pizzeria in Vietnam in 2011, he was throwing pizza parties in his backyard.

One day, his girlfriend suggested, “Why don’t we build a pizza oven in the backyard?” So, he decided to gather friends and hand-craft an oven to fulfill her wish. This was the beginning of Pizza 4P’s.

When it was completed, the pizza party began. Friends brought in more friends, all fascinated by the great taste of their original pizzas. Thus born the belief, “Small actions can give fulfillment and spread happiness to the world.” [*1]

Pizza 4P’s slogan is “Make the World Smile ‘For Peace’.” It shows their magnificent vision and commitment to make people happy. By the way, their mission is “Delivering Wow, Sharing Happiness.”

Masuko said that what’s important in making this commitment is how much gratitude a person can show to one’s dining partner, to manufacturers, to food and everything else we are connected to, said Masuko. Pizza 4P’s’ mission is to bring this happy “moment” to people.

“We consider our restaurants as a media. Business is a tool to achieve our goal,” Masuko shared.

Serving food with a story — “Farm to Table”

To begin with, the food needs to taste good. If it was safe and healthy, it can bring more smiles. So in order bring in even more smiles, customers need to learn about the story of the food – who, how and why – to the guests. This is one of Pizza 4P’s values, “Farm to Table”. Pizza 4P has a contract with a farmer in Da Lat, a well-known plateau in Vietnam.

A rocky start for Pizza 4P’s

“Things did not go so well in the beginning,” Masuko recalled. Nowadays, the restaurant is packed with people who are attracted by the pizzas cooked with organic vegetables and homemade cheese.

Organic, pesticide-free vegetables have always been used for their pizzas. But there is a culture in Vietnam to deliver a desirable vegetable size. Otherwise, vegetables taste bitter once they grow bigger beyond a certain size.

However, just like Japan was once before, Vietnam is an economically developing country. Farmers need to focus on making a living, therefore they prefer to ship vegetables in a condition that makes the biggest profit. This different priorities of the buyer and the supplier caused some difficulty for Masuko in finding a farmer with the same mindset.

“At first, vegetables shipped to us were 80% worm-eaten and hardly edible. But to support our partner, it was necessary to buy them. We had to be patient and learn from mistakes.”

Finally, a partner with the same alignment

After continuous trial and error, Pizza 4P’s finally met Thien Sinh Farm, a farmer who received support in technical training for over ten years by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) in Vietnam.

Thien Sinh Farm grow vegetables without any pesticides, bactericides or weed killers. Their goal is to spread sustainable agriculture in Vietnam, eventually leading to a production high quality food at reasonable prices.

Subsequently, Pizza 4P’s arranges frequent visits to Thien Sinh Farm in Da Lat, which contributes to maintaining their good relationship. Also, the farmers are invited to the restaurant to see how the vegetables are cooked and served, and to feel the joy.

Pizza 4P’s chain store operation makes changing agriculture possible

Yuma Nagata, who oversees the sustainability project, previously worked as a sales staff at an organic farming company in Cambodia before moving to Vietnam. He was selling cheese in Cambodia as an agent which were manufactured at Pizza 4P’s. This was when he got to know Masuko, who then invited him to come to Vietnam.

Nagata has experienced the producer side of agriculture at the organic farming company. Now that he is on the different side of the business, he looked back on how vulnerable the farmers were.

“There was a time when I was tormented by the fact that no matter how much effort the suppliers make, they cannot make an impact big enough,” Nagata shared.

“Manufacturers are inevitably put in a weak position because restaurants often drive a hard bargain. However, restaurants can take initiatives and make great impact on the society. Chain restaurants such as Pizza 4P’s consume huge quantities of food every day. Purchasing food from decent suppliers and cultivating vegetables by their selves can also make huge impacts. Pizza 4P’s also supports suppliers by inviting them to participate in a marche to sell their produce on weekends.

“Social standing of restaurant chefs is growing higher, so it is important for them to speak out, like ‘this vegetable is superb’ or ‘this farming system is exceptional’. What I wish to achieve at Pizza 4P’s is to change agriculture starting from restaurants. It will be a long journey, but we believe that it has significance.”

Achieving beyond sustainability “coolness”

“It’s easy for us to say ‘we are sustainable’ by taking various actions, but Pizza 4P’s didn’t want to stay just ‘cool’,” Nagata reminded.

In order to quantify each branch of Pizza 4P’s’ sustainability, Nagata referred to criteria defined by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), a certification authority that’s headquarter is based in England. He created a unique system to evaluate the restaurant’s sustainability decently based on this.

In it, there are three criteria; how the food is supplied (Sourcing), not to place stress on the environment (Environment), and to support the customers, staff and the community (Society).

Naturally, the evaluation items are arranged in Vietnamese style. In the English version, there is a criterion “to purchase vegetables from certified organic suppliers”, however, only large enterprises have this certification in Vietnam because it is costly. At Pizza 4P’s, the criterion is revised so that even small-scale producers would be evaluated fairly if what they produce are up to the standards.

“By creating this evaluation system, one can see what and how much are evaluated sustainable at this point, which makes it easy to understand what action to take next. At present, a restaurant in Spain called “Azurmendi” is regarded as the most sustainable restaurant in the world by gaining 93% score in the SRA rating. Pizza 4P’s aims to accomplish the same.

“At present, our score is 24%, far from the goal so we must make more effort. I am well aware it is hard to accomplish in Southeast Asia, but by becoming a leading-model in Vietnam, we want to prove sustainability can be achieved in Southeast Asian restaurants too.”

Human resource sustainability — the goal is 10 million smiles by 2023

Today, young adults who are socially aware are demanding essential changes to companies more than ever before. This is no exception in Vietnam. Since it’s becoming harder to secure young talent, it is essential for enterprises to engage in social matters and to maintain a high level of work satisfaction. This would then allow the companies to build a strong relationship with their young employees.

Pizza 4P’s conducts a monthly survey on their employees every month to match every employee’s score to key performance indicators (KPIs) for a section or for the entire company. If there are any discontent, Pizza 4P’s determines the cause and make improvements.

The goal is 86% satisfaction rate. However, the employee’s satisfaction rate was 65% last January. The chain store operation made it hard for managers to send messages to the members effectively, resulting in repeated mistakes. After numerous attempts over a year, the employee’s satisfaction rate rose to 82%. Having struggled in the gap between reality and ideal, they are now in the right direction to achieve their goal.

Pizza 4P’s are striving to accomplish “10 million smiles by 2023”. They define the annual number of smiles as “Number of customers × Customer satisfaction” added to “Number of daily employees × Employee satisfaction × 365 Days”. Until last year, their score was 1.9 million smiles, therefore they are currently putting more effort into increasing the number.

“We want full dissemination to all employees that every member is a part of the company’s purpose; what we aim to achieve and how we contribute to the society,” Masuko stated. These efforts would thus improve customer service quality.

What’s most important is how your mind is set

“We have only just begun.”

Even though Masuko has put so much effort into sustainable actions, he kept repeating this phrase. Reducing the use of plastic, changing wet-towels and to-go containers to sustainable products are still on the to-do list. The present state is far from his ideal.

Why does Masuko continue to make the effort despite many failures and struggles?

“Because I am aware that difficulty derives from reconciling ‘profit’ and ‘social’. To pursue social significance and to make economic impact, while balancing profit and expanding business is tough,” Masuko replied.

Masuko worked in the IT industry during the bubble era before establishing Pizza 4P’s, because he wanted to make an economic impact. He consciously kept profit and social in balance while running a business, careful to keep the equilibrium.

He learned to do this from his experience in school while studying video production. During that time, he joined a Japanese project to build a school in Kenya. The project was carried out with 2 million yen, which was self-funded by the leader. After that, Masuko joined another project to make a 3-minute movie in 3 days to present to Bill Gates at his foundation. That video raised approximately 2 billion yen of donation in just 30 seconds, which was then used for administering vaccines.

“Of course, you cannot tell which is better. But when I saw what happened, I thought that making an economic impact to change the world is significant in a capitalist society. Therefore, we must not forget to make contributions to the society economically, but at the same time, be a parent who can talk to a child about work with confidence. I want to keep ‘profit’ and ‘social’ in balance and stay in a condition I feel comfortable with.”

Sustainability can make this happen. Creating a sustainable natural environment and making profit for a sustainable company are both very important. Masuko said at the end of the interview:

“Pizza 4P’s cherishes ‘how one’s mind is set’. Ultimately, people cannot find fulfillment through material possessions or comfort. Fulfilling yourself comes before environment. Only when you can love yourself, will you be able to love another and make that person happy. That self-assurance will afford you to have the space in your heart to care about the global environment. Our top priority is to commit to the well-being of people’s mind.”

Post-interview: Writer’s note on Pizza 4P’s

Masuko values edutainment within the establishment; his dream is to make an “edutainment island”, a place where creating and consuming energy are concluded within the island.

When I heard Pizza 4P’s aims to “make the world smile for peace”, I thought it was spectacular. Organic farming in Vietnam? Urban farming in Vietnam? I’m probably not the only one stunned by what Pizza 4P’s is trying to accomplish. When Masuko announced to open a pizzeria in Vietnam, many must have wondered, “Why a pizzeria in Vietnam?”.

Now, a pizzeria that started from a pizza oven in the backyard is loved around the world and makes guests smile. Next year, they will open a new restaurant in Da Lat, Vietnam, which will have a cheese factory on site and offer agriculture experiences for guests to enjoy. Pizza 4P’s is steadily making the next step forward to create an “edutainment island”.

Masuko repeatedly said, “We have only just begun.” He is a man of magnificent vision and has a strong will to care for the people’s mindset. I look forward to the future for their next stunning step.

This article was originally published on IDEAS FOR GOOD.
Translated by Chisato Shizumu.