Cebu's fast-paced lifestyle keeps food industry afloat

Amid the current global crisis, Cebu’s fast-paced lifestyle change and flourishing local economy have kept the province’s food industry on a positive note.

“Food is a cash business so a lot of businessmen are investing in it and here in Cebu, Cebuanos love good food that’s why a lot of businessmen from outside the province are taking advantage of the area as a growth market,” said Eric Ng Mendoza, one of the investor of the new franchised Figaro coffee shop branch at the newly opened Ayala Terraces.

Mendoza, who is also the president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and owns an exporting firm shared that they have invested on a franchised concept after seeing a market and demand for this kind of industry here in Cebu.

Glenn Soco, president of homegrown coffee chain Coffee Dream Company Inc., said that the consumer market in the country is resilient.

“The recent lowered fuel prices and fare is giving Filipinos more spending power so if ever there are effects brought about by the crisis, it is not yet felt. But food will always be a basic need so we are not seeing effect on the consumer market,” he said.

Soco said that the positive growth of the food industry in Cebu is a result of a rapid lifestyle change in the market coupled with the various expansions and developments of more lifestyle and commercial establishments such as malls and mixed-use centers.

Major shopping centers in the city have opened and delegated special areas for food and lifestyle brands to grow such as SM Northwing, which plays host to higher end brands of goods and services.

There is also the recently launched Terraces in the Ayala Center Cebu, which provides a new avenue for lifestyle and dining experience.

Parkmall, a new shopping district in Mandaue has also been recently opened to the public and it promises to deliver new dining and shopping experience to both Cebuanos and its growing tourism base.

The increasing demand for food businesses here in Cebu has paved the way for the entry of Manila-based and international brands such as restaurants and coffee shops.

Soco said that homegrown businesses here in Cebu are facing the challenge to compete head on with local brands in Manila and international brands as well.

Meanwhile, Jill Urbina Viado from Café Laguna, one of the successful homegrown brands in Cebu’s food industry said that the entry of several players has just made Cebu’s food industry more competitive, giving more options for consumers.

She said that they do not feel threatened by the entry of both local and international food brands in Cebu’s market because they have already been able to level the playing field as they have proven that homegrown concepts can be at par with global brands.

She said that businesses like theirs remain bullish with Cebu as a market because the industry has become more challenging.