The Coffee Experience deems Cebu as a new potential growth area

Optimistic that their company will fit in the “value-for-money” criterion of Cebuano consumers, a Manila-based coffee industry player called as The Coffee Experience is eyeing Cebu as another growth area in their business operations.

In an interview with Marvin Q. Da Silva, the president of The Coffee Experience (TCE) during the opening of Sampaguita Suites in uptown Cebu, he revealed that they will soon be opening their first outlet at the hotel’s lobby before the first quarter this year ends.

Da Silva added that the outlet will serve as an introduction of their brand and their product to the Cebuano market.

The Coffee Experience has been started by CX Food Enterprise, Inc., an all-Filipino company which opened its first espresso bar in the Glorietta Activity Center on February 12, 1993 in Makati City’s business district.

CX Food Enterprises, Inc. is considered as the pioneer for the “on-site espresso bar” concept in the Philippines as The Coffee Experience was the first of its kind in the Philippines that paved way for the emergence of similar business ventures.

Serving specialty coffee, the business began as an innovative and unique business venture that incorporated a western concept of serving a variety of espresso-based beverages through the use proper equipment to extract coffee from premium local coffee beans.

Developing its own unique blend, TCE was also able to cater to the distinct and discriminating tastes of the Filipino market, yet was also able to attract foreign clientele because of its comparable quality to international blends.

TCE is now composed of 31 outlets all over Luzon with branches in malls round Metro Manila, Pampanga, Tagaytay and in Baguio and a franchised branch in Cotabato City.

Through the years, TCE concentrates its efforts to build a business, aiming for exceptional quality for each of its products. With its 15 years of operations in the coffee industry, CX Food Enterprises has expanded its operations to wholesale distribution of coffee beans to clients in Metro Manila and other provinces.

With a price range from P55 to P75, TCE sees a huge potential to hit in Cebu’s emerging coffee industry as it specifically caters to the value-for-money and quality requirements of the Cebuano market.

“We definitely see a match in terms of consumer profile here in Cebu as we offer competitive pricing versus existing industry players that are already here,” Da Silva stressed.

The company is aiming to develop a chain of on-site espresso bars offering quality coffee beverages at affordable prices for people on-the-go, but before they intensify their operations in Mindanao, Da Silva stressed that they will first start their existence in Visayas specifically in Cebu as there is already a big prospective market for their products.

“We plan to establish presence in Visayas and Mindanao areas and we are almost at the final leg of the planning stage so you can expect that before this semester ends, we can start our operations in Cebu,” he said.

Da Silva further pointed out that, “the malling craze and the coffee drinking craze is already here in Cebu as local and international brands have already started establishing presence in the area so we are at the moment looking for a local partner to start our operations in the city. We believe that Cebu is not yet saturated as more commercial establishments are still going to be built.”

Aside from Cebu, TCE is also eyeing to penetrate the market of Davao City, another budding metropolis in the country. —  Rhia de Pablo