Pedro Gasca, líder de Bakery Business International (BBI), dueños de la marca. / Cortesía
Por Nohelia Leal B.
“Directivos de BBI, dueños de la marca, aseguran que sin importar los ingresos de las personas, pueden comprar en la tienda.
Tostao’ es una cafetería que pareciera estar alterando el modelo de negocios detrás del consumo de café en Colombia con una idea simple y directa: una tienda de cadena con la misma oferta de productos, a bajos precios, sin importar la ubicación de cada local. De cierta forma, lo que hay detrás de esto es un quiebre al esquema de los estratos.
“No importa por dónde viva o se desplace la gente, queremos que tenga un Tostao’ cerca de su casa, de su trabajo, de su lugar de estudio de a sitios que visita periódicamente, sin importar su ubicación. En Bogotá, por ejemplo, tenemos puntos en Suba, pero también en Soacha”. Quien habla es Pedro Gasca, líder de Bakery Business International S.A.S (BBI), compañía panameña dueña de la marca.
Uno de los fundadores de BBI es el alemán Michael Olmi, quien también fundó el D1 y se vinculó al Grupo Rebe, inversionistas de Mercadería S.A.S., creadoras de Justo & Bueno.
Tostao’ tiene 300 locales en Bogotá y Medellín.
Buena parte del éxito detrás de Tostao’ radica en el delicado balance entre calidad del producto y bajos precios. Por ejemplo, una taza de tinto de 12 onzas en este lugar se consigue por $1.600, mientras que en otros sitios de este tipo el precio es de $4.300. “El 50 % de la población colombiana gana menos de dos salarios mínimos. El poder adquisitivo en nuestro país hace que los negocios lleguen únicamente a ciertos estratos. Rompemos ese esquema y sin importar los ingresos de cada persona, sabemos que puede comprar en Tostao’ y encontrar opciones para comer”, cuenta Gasca.
La marca comenzó sus actividades a finales de 2015, luego de que Gasca y su equipo estudiaran negocios similares en Europa y Estados Unidos. Uno de sus objetivos era buscar que los consumidores compraran en la tienda, pero que disfrutaran de los productos en espacios diferentes, por ejemplo, en un parque, y que esa compra se convirtiera en un motivo para compartir con familiares y amigos.
El minimalismo en las tiendas también está alineado con la estrategia de bajos precios, como cuenta Gasca: “No hay servicio a la mesa, no hay platos, ni cubiertos, entregamos el producto en una bolsa de papel con una servilleta. Tampoco hay wifi, eso hace que los costos disminuyan y podamos ofrecer mejores precios para el público”.
“Sin prisa y sin pausa” es el lema de esta marca, que ha encontrado un terreno fértil de crecimiento durante una etapa modesta en la economía nacional. El crecimiento económico en el primer semestre de 2017 fue de 1,2 % y en 2016 fue del 2 %, según datos del DANE. En este período, Tostao’ abrió más de 150 puntos.
“Nuestro negocio cabe perfectamente a pesar de los tiempos difíciles en materia económica. Es más, la gente en momentos así busca ahorrar aún más y acá encuentra la mejor opción: bajo precio y calidad”, dice Gasca.
Cada trabajador está contratado directamente: no implementan el salario mínimo, tienen uno que denominan social y que en términos generales significa que el trabajador tiene un mayor ingreso exigido legalmente. En la mayoría de los casos, la idea es que los empleados trabajen en puntos ubicados cerca de sus casas para facilitar el desplazamiento.
La clave de cada tienda, según Gasca, es el “autofuncionamiento”, un asunto que el empresario dice que se ve reflejado a través de toda la marca. En las tiendas “no hay supervisores ni jefes de punto. Queremos que los empleados se adueñen de su lugar de trabajo y se ponga la camiseta de la empresa para que así mismo puedan brindar un excelente servicio”, dice. La compañía tiene una alianza con Casa Libertad para dar oportunidades laborales a pospenados, es decir, personas que cumplieron condenas en la cárcel.
“La marca inaugura en Bogotá su local número 300 y programa 124 más para lo que resta de este año”
El café que sirven en Tostao’ es 100 % colombiano. Tienen una tostadora en Manizales, donde se encargan de procesos que van desde el acopio, pasando por el empaquetamiento y el transporte hasta llegar a cada tienda, en donde los granos son molidos y servidos inmediatamente en cada taza.
Por otro lado, Gasca cuenta que una gran parte de la panadería que ofrecen se la compran a proveedores nacionales, todo lo que tiene que ver con panes dulces, tortas; por ejemplo, en Bogotá tienen un proveedor de pasteles gloria. Sin embargo, un porcentaje es importado desde Europa: “Se llama ultracongelación, esto no significa que tenga aditivos, simplemente es un proceso de cambios de temperatura para que el producto se conserve y sea horneado a diario cuando llegue a la tienda”.
Para reducir el desperdicio de comida, Tostao’ tiene una alianza con Banco de Alimentos, entidad a la que entrega la comida que no se vende en el día.
“Queremos que en más ciudades de Colombia, podamos expandir nuestra promesa de democratizar el consumo de pan y café”.
Uno de los rumores más comunes alrededor de la marca es la posibilidad de obtener franquicias, como se menciona en varios sitios en línea. Gasca asegura que no han considerado esta posibilidad, al menos no por el momento, y lo advierte para evitar engaños en internet. “Somos un negocio demasiado joven, tenemos un año y medio aproximadamente y considerar esa expansión no sería adecuado para el mercado”.
Para 2021, la marca espera tener 700 tiendas en toda Colombia. Gasca concluye: “A lo que siempre llamamos nosotros es al optimismo, es invertir en el país, hay que seguir apostando por que la economía siga creciendo y generar empleo para que se mueva. Eso es lo que hemos hecho”.
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