September 2015 Issue Business View Caribbean

Business View Caribbean - September 2015 45 the original store’s location and the novelty of the new type of fare it offered to the locals. Mario’s Pizza was unique in that it used cheddar cheese as its main top- ping, a taste profile familiar to the local tongue rather than the traditional mozzarella, as well as a proprie- tary sauce made with eight diverse herbs and spices. According to Harford, responding to the Trinidadian predilection for spicy, bold, and hot flavors, continues to keep Mario’s ahead of its competition. “Not being an international franchise, we are able to better ca- ter to local taste,” he explains. “We are able to tweak our formula for that purpose whereas our competitors make their pizzas to an international recipe.” After being open for a few years, the economy of Trini- dad went south. When the original partners of the restaurant wanted to sell their shares, Harford senior made the decision to go it alone. “My dad took the big- gest risk,” says Harford, “because when things were not doing well, he decided to buy them out. As the sole owner, he continued to be the restaurant manager for the first restaurant and after two or three years, things started to turn around, and he decided to open a sec- ond store. And it was only after he opened his third