'Overwhelmed with orders': How Filipino food enterprises thrive despite pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — Food business has been more popular than ever since the pandemic hit. As we've all been staying at home, we're more inclined to try new dishes and desserts that we can easily order online from our abode.

Some of the successful food entrepreneurs that have risen these trying times shared their inspiring stories on how they've grown their business despite challenges brought about by lockdown and safety restrictions:

Sweettea

Sweettea is a milk tea shop founded by Charlene Francisco Sy and her husband in 2019. They have expanded from one to 18 stores in a span of two years, thanks in part to its success in food delivery markerplace Foodpanda.

“We are one of the few stores that are open at that time and we are overwhelmed with orders from Foodpanda. They helped us grow the business in such a short period of time," Charlene said, who juggles her roles as business owner and IT consultant.

Apart from the visibility, she also likes that the foodpanda merchant app helps her see crucial data that enables her to decide and to properly manage her business. The brand is also supportive in executing her marketing strategies, she said. She plans to grow and have a “Sweettea in every city."

Bigg’s Diner

Another food business sucess is Bigg’s Diner. Founded by Carlo Beunflor’s mother and partners in 1983 in Bicol, Bigg’s Diner was the answer to the needs of Bicol for Western food. Armed with a strong vision, despite personal setbacks, the partners took out a bank loan to get started, and here they are now.

38 years later, Carlo leads the company’s tenured employees, while training staff to “support them” and “give them all the resources” needed in achieving their goals.

After signing with Foodpanda in 2020, Carlo felt the brand was able to address issues and challenges they’ve been facing as a company in a “swift” and “outright” manner.

“Our partnership with foodpanda augmented our sales significantly during the pandemic,” said Carlo. “Eventually, we would like to have a significant presence in bigger cities such as Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao but our brand strongly appeals to smaller provincial key cities as well."

Ribshack

Ribshack started at a food court in Downtown Bacolod City in 2012. The founders had to work hard for a stable space for three years.

But now they’re present in kiosks, weekend festivals, and malls.

Ribshack joined Foodpanda in 2020 and currently has 17 branches open on the app. “Due to the dining restrictions during the pandemic, foodpanda has helped maintain our presence, especially for the customers who cannot go out or dine in,” said Adrian Alagao, Ribshack’s Head of Operations.

“By tapping into the customer base of foodpanda, we can readily expand to those customers who might have otherwise not seen or visited our restaurant,” Alagao added.

For future plans, Adrian hopes to “expand to more areas here in the Philippines.” This also includes continuing the company’s food-delivery partnership with foodpanda to reach more locations.

Penong’s Barbecue Seafood & Grills

Penong’s Barbecue Seafood & Grills is a homegrown restaurant chain in Davao City that was founded in 2004.

Chad Robert Boniface Regis, the brand’s Chief Executive Officer, says his passion for cooking was the reason he had always been “fascinated” by the restaurant business. He finally pursued the idea when he had a family of his own.

“The first three months was a huge struggle. I would get up early every day to open the store and come home late from work just to attain an established brand name and a good foundation for my product and business,” Regis said.

The hard work paid off though. Penong’s now has 40 branches, including those in SM Butuan, SM General Santos City, and Quezon City. After partnering with Foodpanda in 2020, the brand increased its presence to 27 stores online.

“(It has helped) us establish an online presence through frequently advertising our products on its platform, connecting us with large customer audiences, and driving more delivery sales,” Regis shared.

His advice to aspiring restaurant owners? “Find your passion and make a living out of it.”

The Brewed Buddies

The global pandemic may have had a generally bad impact on everyone, but it has also pushed us to try to be resourceful in developing new financial opportunities for ourselves. 

The entrepreneurs behind The Brewed Buddies know this all too well. After all, they’re some of the blessed ones who now have an inspiring success story to tell after overcoming challenges of building a business amidst the pandemic.

The Brewed Buddies is a homegrown coffee and tea concept shop that opened its first physical store at SM San Mateo on November 1, 2020,  while in the midst of the community quarantine restrictions.  

This was a bold move by its five partners who pursued their dream of owning a business. On March 30, 2019, two of the partners - John Daliwan, Operations Director and Jacque Corona, President and Chief Executive Officer- attended a Franchise Expo at SMX Convention Center in Manila in search of potential franchise concepts to invest in. 

The group got together two months later, and while having lunch at Conrad Manila, they decided to start a business with an originally conceived concept instead. 

Pooling together their expertise across different industries of food & beverage, plant operations, supply chain, and finance, the young professionals decided on venturing into a business, based on an interest that they all shared -- coffee and tea beverages. 

Although the idea was born in 2019, it was challenging to start materializing it amidst lockdowns. The business concept is based on their own personal preferences and experiences with their favourite beverages.

“We felt that we didn’t want to be just another coffee and tea shop. We wanted to find our own niche in a sea of brands already existing in the market. That’s why we thought of offering naturally brewed coffee and tea-based beverages in a cup that is meant for sharing, just as how the members in our group tend to share their drinks, and also enjoy individually,” said John Daliwan, Operations Director of Brewed Buddies.     

The group decided to open at SM Malls, presenting their concept to the management of SM City San Mateo in January 2020. Through a series of deliberations and a thorough screening of the brand, they were approved to set up across all SM malls nationwide.   

“Initially, we were given an award notice to operate on May 1, 2020. However we were forced to move our opening to a tentative date when the pandemic happened in March,” continued Daliwan.  

On June 12, 2020, the group decided to have a soft opening by accepting pick-ups and online deliveries within their neighbourhood in Rodriguez, Rizal. They received the notification of approval from SM San Mateo management in October 2020, and started operating their mall kiosk on November 1, 2020. 

Today, The Brewed Buddies operates in 7 locations at various SM malls. They have become popular for serving affordable, handcrafted Espresso and Milk Tea variants that customers can order in “Buddy Cups” with choices of two flavours in one cup and in handy “To Go” bottles. “We proudly use local beans and offer zero sugar beverages,” said Jacque Corona, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brewed Buddies. To help those affected by the pandemic, they also prioritize hiring staff who are residents living near their stores. 

To help even more entrepreneurs succeed in their business venture, SM recently launched The SM StartUp Package, which provides small online businesses the valuable support and opportunity they need to set up their own shop in an SM mall. This is currently available only to the first 100 digital based MSME owners, who do not have a shop inside SM or any other physical store, in general but operate a thriving online commerce site. 

The exclusive package includes friendly rental rates and free use of kiosks or carts, giving the brand free exposure in SM online assets and ad spaces inside malls; financial assistance with BDO; and mentorship from SM experts on operations and marketing.

The StartUp Markets, as they will be called, will be situated in prime mall locations within 13 regional and premier malls in major cities: SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Southmall, SM Pampanga, SM Clark, SM Grand Central, SM Sta. Rosa, SM City Cebu, SM Iloilo, SM Bacolod, SM CDO Downtown Premier, and SM Lanang Premier. To apply and be a part of The SM Startup Market in any of the above malls, visit www.smsupermalls.com or follow @smsupermalls on all their social media accounts.

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