MBAH 10 Food Trip Report by Yen

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yen

On March 9, the class went on a learning trip at 3 different food establishments at Rockwell Power Plant Mall in Makati. As we enjoy each others' company, we started to understand the heart of each business and know their unique selling proposition. Here are some of my observations and key learning:

I.                    Banana Leaf  - The place where we had a feast after a morning session loaded with lots of learning from our classmates as they presented their individual reports on topics related to entrepreneurship.

·         Business Concept: They offer a wide range of Southeast Asian cuisine particularly Singaporean, Thai, Malaysian, Indian, Indonesian and Vietnamese dishes. The staff wore Asian costumes and the set up of the dining area infuses an Asian culture. Their place is suggestive of group dining either as a family, business associates or group of friends who may want to take an hour or so to eat and chat.

·         Location: Basement, Food court area

·         Service Delivery: The management was able to deliver the food fast, starting with the appetizer in 5 minutes followed by the main course.  The dishes are served hot and there is an assigned crew to take care of customers in clustered areas. This would allow them keep up with the number of customers coming in as groups who tend to stay long. They also provide delivery and catering services.

·         Price: Generally, the price is not too expensive but not too affordable for a rank and file Pinoy. A regular employee who would want to try this restaurant must definitely need to save up before going to this place.

·         Marketing: They have a website and uses social media like Facebook and Twitter to extend their marketing reach. They also have discount coupons in partnership with some malls where they are located particularly, Ayala Malls.

·         Business Model: Franchise – Banana Leaf is open to franchising.

·         Innovation: They made use of banana leaves like what Asian countries do as plates. This completes the Asian look and at the same time saves them time from cleaning plates after diner finishes their course.

II.                  Sugarhouse – After taking a nice sumptuous meal, we went here for a dessert and had the chance to taste their Apple and Chocolate Bliss cakes.

·         Business Concept: Best spot for customers with a sweet tooth. But not for kids, the ambiance is set for an adult population who wants to have an afternoon chat over coffee or tea with a matching sweet pastry. They also offer other cold drinks like shake, juice and soft drinks. They also offer catering services since they also offer other meals like pasta, salad, etc.

·         Location: Basement, Food court area

·         Service Delivery: The crew was very accommodating with our requests when we both two cakes and asked for the cakes to be sliced based on our numbers and even prepared plates and water for all of us.

·         Price: Not for the lowly Juan. This place is intended for the A & B market.

·         Marketing: They started by word-of-mouth then eventually they now have a website and uses social media like Facebook and Twitter to extend their marketing reach. They also have discount schemes like Birthday Blowout.

·         Business Model: Chain Stores – They have 13 branches including 4 kiosks.

·         Innovations: None observed except having an ambiance of an English tea house.

III.                The Draft Sports Bar & Grill – The class initially wanted to go to a coffee shop since we had sweets but to no avail, we ended up moving to The Draft which offers coffee and of course, alcohol, just in time to relax our minds and end our food trip. I had the chance to drink Mojito, a rum cocktail drink. It was quite a different experience because we had 4 classmates present their report inside the bar.

·         Business Concept: Basically it is a sports bar and grill popular in Concord that offers a wide range of high-class beer. But they are not limited with drinks, but they offer also a selection of meals where people who wanted to have lunch or dinner as a couple or as a group of friends and even as a family.

·         Location: 3^rd Floor (Has entrance from outside and linked to the mall area)

·         Service Delivery: The dishes came out fast and hot. Since alcoholic beverages are their forte, it was served right on dot and met the requirements of an alcohol drinker. As for the coffee, two of our classmates had to return their cups of coffee because it was not hot at the time it was delivered.

·         Price: Not for the lowly Juan. This place is intended for the A & B market particularly, business executives and foreigners.

·         Marketing: They have a website and uses social media like Facebook and Twitter to extend their marketing reach.

·         Business Model: Franchise – This concept was brought to the Philippines from Europe.

·         Innovations: Full of widescreens to watch their favourite game and a huge bar counter.

It was a fun-filled learning trip, full of surprises and had the best time with my classmates while enjoying meals at different places.