Frugality goes a long way

MANILA, Philippines – It’s been repeatedly said that to succeed in business, one must find his passion and pursue it. For former employees who have just made the leap, they may try - and often fail - in several ventures before discovering what drives them.

This is especially true for Sweet Corner founder Voltaire Magpayo who worked for almost a decade in a cattle-fattening ranch and experimented with many other businesses with his wife Cholly only to realize that the key to their success was what he had been feeding cows all along.

“We love corn. It’s filling and can be eaten anytime, anywhere. People of all socio-economic classes love it,” says Cholly.

What started out as a single food kiosk of buttered corn on the cob and corn kernel in SM North Edsa in 2009 has rapidly grown to a network of 60 branches in only three years thanks to the couple’s frugal business practice and belief in the product.  

Before founding Sweet Corner, Voltaire and Cholly had actually opened a trucking business, a dung center, an organic fertilizer business, and a bakery. Their first foray into the food cart business was a Takoyaki kiosk which they opened from initial savings of P200, 000.

The Takoyaki franchise had already grown into three outlets when Voltaire began exploring the possibilities of a corn business. At that time, they directly competed with King Corn, then a more established brand for a franchise in their class.

To divide the market, Voltaire used his extensive network of corn growers in Mindanao to establish a purchasing network that eliminates the middleman, enabling cooperatives to sell their produce at a higher price and Sweet Corner at a lower price. If the normal farmgate price is P2 apiece, Sweet Corner will buy at P6 apiece.

“But I’m not saying that I’m the savior of the corn industry,” Voltaire laughs. “But it certainly helps.”

Later on, Sweet Corner added a five-hectare corn farm in Nueva Ecija to its grower network to supply the demand for Metro Manila.

Sweet Corner currently has three master franchisers in Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Davao and branches scattered in SM Bacolod, Gaisano Mall in Kalibo, Cang’s Inc. Mall in Dumaguete, Gaisano Mall in Lapu-Lapu City, SM Davao, KCC Mall in General Santos, Gaisano Mall in Cagayan de Oro, Robinsons Pagadian City, Gaisano Mall in Surigao and many others.     

Three Sweet Corner branches are owned by the company. The goal is to achieve 400 outlets.

“What we are seeing now is that franchise concepts for snack foods are going back to the basics: siomai, taho, scramble, corn. Products that are enjoyed by everybody,” Voltaire says.

This year, Sweet Corner is also expanding its operations to include a kiosk in a mall in Abu Dhabi after an investor had taken interest in the franchise. Another outlet is up for possible opening in Los Angeles, California.

Aside from Sweet Corner, Voltaire and Cholly also owns Potato Hub, a food corner that serves fries and nuggets, in SM Mall of Asia and Robinsons Manila.

Despite the rapid growth in Sweet Corner franchises, the parent company remains home-based in Quezon City. Even at the initial expansion phase, the franchise was only granted to close friends and later on by other investors who had taken an interest in the product.

The central operation is handled by Voltaire, Cholly, their former maid Leah Donahan who they promoted as store supervisor and their former male household help Gerald Maganding who they have promoted as their warehouse supervisor.

“Even when I meet new investors, I take them to the site so they will see the business as it is, they will see the traffic of customers,” says Voltaire. “What is important to us is that they know how the business works. Now Leah sometimes flies to the provinces to supervise the opening of new stores.”  

A Sweet Corner franchise costs P230,000. This includes a five-year cof the logo and trademark, food cart, initial inventory worth P10,000, business permit processing, insurance worth P500,000, and onsite assistance.