The man who baked his way to Blue Oceans

Blue Ocean Strategy Articles : The man who baked his way to Blue Oceans

We were recently tipped to an inspiring story about Johnlu Koa, a Philippine man who, using Blue Ocean Strategy-like thinking, is literally baking his way to success. Today, with over 36 The French Baker outlets in the Philippines, his story highlights the effectiveness of Blue Ocean-like thinking, and also demonstrates that creating Blue Ocean market space is not a static achievement — but rather a dynamic process — as evidenced in Koa’s next creation, Lartizan. What key principles of BOS do you recognize in his example?

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

Although Johnlu admits that there is competition all over the place, he remains undeterred and has once again put the Blue Ocean Strategy to the test with his new baby -- Lartizan.

While Honey Bread still exists, now managed by a younger brother and catering to small bakeshops and entrepreneurs, The French Baker serves the broad C, B and A markets, Johnlu says there remains a segment that is untapped -- the high or triple A market that Lartizan hopes to tap.

“I saw this trend seven to eight years ago, we would go back to basics and nature. This started in Europe, spread to the US now in Asia. There is an untapped, unserved market,” he says.

The bakery specializes in sour dough -- a unique bread popular in Europe that does not use chemicals and artificial flavors. The name is a play on the l’artisan, meaning the artisan in French.

“In any business or idea or challenge, you find an opening. In the case of Honey Bread, the opportunity was in the delivery time -- nobody wanted to deliver in the wee hours of the morning because at that time people were doing well, the economy was good. People were comfortable,” he says.

Johnlu says that with Lartizan, he addresses that segment of the market that can afford P150 for a loaf of bread.

(The loaf bread in the market these days range from about P40 to P56 per loaf).

“Instead of trying to get a market share of my competitors, I would rather serve a market that is not being served. This with the growing wellness awareness,” he says.