Golden Spoon opens in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The effective positioning of Cebu as “health and wellness” hub in Southern Philippines, attracted United States yogurt brand to take advantage of the tremendously growing health-conscious market in Cebu.

Golden Spoon frozen yogurt brand opened its 14th outlet in Cebu, its first out-of-Manila outlet, realizing the strong demand for health-friendly products and services in the province.

Unilogix Inc., the master franchisee for the Philippines for Golden Spoon, general manager Ma. Margarita de Jesus, said that Cebu is now ready for more sophisticated products, such as frozen yogurt, the reason why it has decided to open up an outlet at the SM City Cebu, Northwing.

Unilogix Inc., which is under the umbrella of the Rustan’s Group of companies, believes that the positioning of Cebu as health and wellness destination is one of the factors that pushed the company to start off its regional expansion.

In an interview with de Jesus, she said that the presence of Golden Spoon in Cebu will complement the province’s positioning, while adding up to the wide choices of the market seeking health-friendly foods, including comfort but healthy food like yogurt.

Although, there are already a number of yogurt brands available in Cebu, de Jesus expressed confidence that the US-brand will hit the Cebuano market, because of its quality. The availability of the Golden Spoon yogurt brand here is also expected to gain attraction from the foreign tourists who have known the brand for years now.

“Compared to [traditional] ice cream products, frozen treats especially yogurt products are very popular now. Filipinos love sweet stuff. The beauty of yogurt is it is healthy,” said de Jesus.

Yogurt is a good alternative to ice cream because it is more healthy and nutritious. She said all Golden Spoon frozen yogurt flavors are non-fat, with the exception of Heath Bar, which is 99 percent fat-free.

De Jesus is confident the brand would be able to capture a good size of the Cebuano market as they offer “value-for-money” products to price-conscious Cebuanos.

Golden Spoon’s new store in Cebu is the first outlet in the Philippines that introduced with a new concept called weightless pricing, which charges customers by the cup.

The company also upgraded the store’s look into a “modern California beach cottage.”

To emphasize its bid to promote health awareness in the market, she said their staff can assist customers by providing them with information on calories, swirling of certain flavors and combination with certain toppings.

“Weightless pricing is the ultimate in healthy dessert bingeing. If you can pile it in, it’s yours at no additional cost, no matter the weight,” said de Jesus.

The brand which originated in Southern California in 1983, has been in the Philippines for two years now. De Jesus said the company is on its constant look out for more outlet expansion in Cebu, and other potential markets in Southern Philippines.