Monthly Archives: September 2014

Last week I posted a video interview I conducted with author and wellness specialist  Isabelle Lipari after having just read her new book 21 Days to Change Your Lifestyle Habits. I was thus quite surprised and even shocked to read that the Pacini restaurant chain would be launching a new brand of restaurants called Bolo Bolo. The idea came from the owner of Pacini Pierre Marc Tremblay, who got inspired by a chain from New York called The Meatball Shop. I was shocked because I remember reading an article about Mr. Tremblay and the Pacini chain several years ago where I learnt how the focus of the brand was on providing a more healthy menu. If you go on the Pacini website one of the first things you see is the slogan or statement “Pacini is taking good care of you” as well as “Change the World with Us!” So how can this be more contradictory for the chain who has promoted a mission of taking care of people’s health and now be launching a chain of restaurants that does the contrary? Do we need another restaurant chain that feeds us fat and salt laden greasy unhealthy food? Aren’t there enough fast food chains at every corner that limits the choice for good nourishment? If you read the article Les Affaires, they describe some of the types of meatballs that Bolo Bolo plans to serve. How about Buffalo chicken wings meatballs or fried macaroni cheese meatballs or barbecue rib meatballs? Now for the average person this sounds pretty appetizing. But the point is, the average person eats pretty bad and needs to start eating healthier. Again, just watch the video with Isabelle, or read this article from CTV news. I see this plan by Mr. Tremblay and the Pacini chain as a conflict in values and business strategy. From my perspective, this can only result in disaster. Perhaps Mr. Tremblay is looking to recoup the losses he suffered from the bankruptcy of the Le Commensal chain of vegetarian restaurants. That chain was sold to Imvescor Group from New Brunswick, which also owns other really healthy restaurants like Mikes, Baton Rouges and Scores. The alignment of values and business strategy is crucial for the development of a strong brand and for executing all business objectives well. I cannot see this being the case for the new Bolo Bolo restaurant chain. It sounds like Pacini and Mr. Tremblay has been fooling the public all along and claiming to make healthier food just to differentiate itself and make more profits. Of course it’s much more time consuming and costly to try and educate the public on the benefits of eating healthier than it is to go with what is popular and a good business opportunity. So what’s more important, living your values or making money. The ideal is to have the two be aligned and in the situation of Pacini and Mr Tremblay that does not seem to be the case. The future success of this restaurant chain will show if I am right or wrong. Perhaps it will succeed at the expense of the Pacini chain and then Bolo Bolo can define their values.