The FINANCIAL -- Tsiskvili will soon be celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The company plans to diversify its brand and there will be a presentation about it on the anniversary. At the event novelties for local as well as foreign customers will be presented.

“We will be holding evenings with ethnographical elements and master classes for tourists where they will have the chance to learn Georgian dancing and how to cook certain Georgian meals,” said Koba Sakhvadze the General Manager of Tsiskvili. “All of this will be a kind of show. We are working intensively on this direction with local and foreign tourism agencies to include our programme in their tours.”

The new menu of our Beer Square is already complete. It will be more diversified than before. The restaurant is adding exclusive meals to the beer menu.

“We are also working to create a VIP menu of Georgian meals. This means that we will be serving Georgian meals according to European serving culture, but with the same traditional taste. Football enthusiasts will have the chance to come to the Beer Square and enjoy the Euro 2012 football championship.”

As well as this Tsikvili plans to offer ten other new projects.

Q. Tsiskvili was recently awarded by Golden Brand. What does this mean for the company and what will it change?

A. Golden Brand is the biggest business award in Georgia. Tsiskvili has been awarded by Golden Brand seven years in a row and this is evidence of our great success. Being awarded by Golden Brand proves that the direction that Tsikvili chose to take towards its development was correct. Such an award is important for the purpose of stimulating business in the country. The seven year period of receiving Golden Brand awards has made Tsiskvili one of the most famous and reliable brands in Georgia, and also famed abroad.

Q. What other awards does Tsiskvili own?

A. Tsiskvili got its first award just a year after its opening. In 2003 the restaurant received the award Gran-Pre and was also given the title of ‘Restaurant-Museum’. In addition we have five golden medals. Tsikvili received the ‘Georgian Quality’ sign in 2009 after four months of observation.

Q. Do your various awards help you attract clients?

A. Of course, each award strengthens customers’ interest in our restaurant. Being the owner of seven Golden Brands and many other awards means that the company is ready to serve and satisfy the requirements of any type of customer. As a result of these awards clients are often overly critical of us in the initial stage, which is actually more than fair. Being first is an ambitious announcement and we have to satisfy all the criteria of those that visit us. The main aim of the company is to show great attention to each individual customer and we do our best to adhere to this.

Q. The restaurant market is quite diverse. Tsikvili is ten years old. How has the restaurant managed to maintain its success?

A. Our team considers that managing relations with customers is the main concept of the modern restaurant business. Building two-sided profitable relations with customers is essential for maintaining success. This includes hard-work and permanent focus on detail. Taking decisions according to clients’ interests and the strategy of the company is important for strengthening its position in the market. In my opinion, as a result of its strong teamwork Tsikvili has become a successful brand and therefore proudly holds its position on the market. What’s more we plan to maintain such success in the future as well.

Q. What was your main aim ten years ago when the restaurant was founded and have you achieved those goals?

A. These past ten years have been full of interesting achievements. Each year of our growth has been different from the other. The aims of the business and the main direction of its operating were strictly determined when the business was founded. We aimed to always satisfy customers as they then become more faithful. This has been the main reason for our success. Business doesn’t experience degradation if it is always working toward its development. According to this principal we trained our staff to fully meet international standards. Our final and main aim was to effectively communicate with our customers, maintain them and increase their number. In my opinion, the main aim of Tsiskvili, to have a big amount of loyal customers, has already been achieved. But we aren’t going to stop now. We are working on new programmes and projects which are to be presented at the 10th anniversary of Tsiskvili.

Q. What are the main reasons for your success?

A. The main reason for our success is the attitude that we have always observed and adequately estimated our competitors on the market. To be honest I wish them luck. Numerous things which we have offered our customers including business lunches, diplomatic receptions, buffets, events, presentations, constantly updated menus and high quality music have also resulted in our success. All these factors combined have meant that we have already got a traditional reputation and great popularity amongst society.

Q. Tsiskvili often arranges outside events. How popular are they? How many events do you arrange a month?

A. Yes, we offer the service “Tsikvili at your Home” as there are many cases of families wanting to host guests but not having the possibility to prepare the meals themselves. So they can order meals online or directly in the restaurant instead and we then deliver them to the address according to the specified programme. During the event our staff then ensure high quality service. They also take care of clearing up the place afterwards. After the event is over, the house will look exactly as it did before the event. We think that this service gives the opportunity to more women to enjoy events and not have to worry about preparing meals or cleaning up the house afterwards.

This offer has really been successful and popular with our customers. I can say that we have even had cases where demand has been higher than supply. We have definitely had a deficit of staff in regards to demand for this service.

Business lunches are also very popular with working people. This service runs on working-days from 12 to 4 pm. The restaurant frequently looks like an office during these hours as clients continue to work via the internet during their lunches.

Q. Do you have a delivery service? Is it popular?

A. Yes we do have a delivery service. This programme was implemented as a result of the intensive demand of our customers. Nowadays lots of people use this service and you can see a Tsikvili order menu in many families’ homes. Observation of the market has shown that customers often have a deficit of free time. So we have implemented several programmes which give our customers the chance to save time. Therefore we provide business lunches and also a delivery service which are mainly aimed at companies and organizations. This gives people the chance to get their lunch at their workplace and use their time practically instead of spending it on travelling.

Q. Which segment is Tsikvili mainly oriented at?

A. Tsiskvili, because of its character, is more oriented at the middle-aged and slightly more elderly segments of the population. As for the opinion of society that Tsiskvili is an expensive restaurant which is only for people with high incomes, that simply isn’t true. People of any income or segment can relax and enjoy supper with their family, friends or partners. Our menu and prices are so diversified that any person can choose meals according to their individual budgets.

Q. In Tbilisi traditional eating places are more popular than cafes and lounge bars. What do you think about this?

A. I think that there are lots of European style eating places in Tbilisi which work better than many traditional ones. As for those which don’t work well, I can simply say that foreign menus have to be chosen very carefully for Georgian customers because we have a diverse cuisine and Georgians are surprisingly picky. If they have proper management though then attracting Georgian customers will be easier.

Q. What is the share of local and foreign visitors at Tsiskvili?

A. Tsiskvili has been in the market since 2002. We don’t know the exact tourist numbers for the years 2011-2012. Actually each third visitor is foreign. Lots of the tourists that visit Georgia come to Tsiskvili. We know that they are often recommended to visit Tsikvili not just when they come to Georgia, but when in their home countries as well. This is probably as a result of the marvellous architecture and diverse musical programme we offer.

Q. As a general rule do Georgians spend more than foreigners?

A. I’ve been in this sector for 13 years. During this time Georgians have got used to spending a truly reasonable amount of money at our restaurant, whereas in the past they were used to spending more money than they had to. The majority of Europeans are the same as well.

Q. Is the restaurant mainly oriented at Georgians or foreigners?

A. We are oriented at the popularization of Georgian culture, folklore, cuisine, traditions and hospitality. We offer all of this to our customers without change, which is really Georgian. Foreigners definitely like this and Georgians show off because of it.

Q. Tsikvili has a totally traditional design. Has this helped you to gain success and recognition?

A. The main character of Tsikvili is its architecture and design. Thanks to the architect Mamuka Chkhaidze, the structure of our restaurant perfectly fits in with the local landscape. Its design is also perfect. We rejected the fake fanfare and artificially created festival atmosphere which is so common in other Georgian restaurants. Tsiskvili is outstanding as there are many historical artefacts kept in its interior as well as exterior. The beautiful waterfall, natural rock and real water mill give the best impression of Georgia’s history and culture to our visitors.

Q. How would you evaluate Georgia’s restaurant market? How competitive is it?

A. I’d like the market to be more competitive actually. That would be the best way for the restaurant market’s development and improvement of service quality.

Q. What are the main problems of the Georgian restaurant market?

A. Service! This is the most painful issue of the Georgian restaurant market. First of all, we representatives of the sector have to assimilate the direction of our government which aims to develop tourism. We have a huge role in the long term. Offering high quality service is essential for the development of tourism. It’s not acceptable that all restaurants set their standards themselves. We have to work on a common concept; on how to work with tourists and serve local and foreign visitors according to international norms. Service provider companies have to be oriented at visitors as well as serving people. The chain of profit includes increasing the quality of internal service, which means choosing and training high quality staff, creating a quality working environment, which ensures a more satisfied and loyal working force. As a result service is more qualitative and this affects gaining the satisfaction and loyalty of our customers. Satisfied customers later tell of their experience to others. All this results in high profitability and a constantly increasing number of visitors. This is a formula and without this raising the quality of service in Georgia is impossible.

It would be good if a special service were created which would monitor the service quality in the country and train local managers as they could then train their staff. This would support raising service quality and the approach to Euro standards. I’m ready to participate in such a project without fee.

Q. How many employees does the restaurant have and how do you care about the development of their careers?

A. We currently employ up to 80 individuals. Successful operation of the restaurant depends on the qualifications of the staff. They are in constant communication with customers. For that reason we looked at the standards of other countries and chose the Shief and Rang Standard, which is a French model of service, as it was the most acceptable for Georgian customers’ mentality. We created a School of Service where all employees undergo special courses and trainings. This helps us to be competitive in the market.