How can foodpreneurs grow their business?

Globe myBusiness, Globe Telecom’s  micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) arm and UnionBank GlobalLinker, UnionBank’s digital platform for business owners invited the country’s biggest online food community Let’s Eat Pare to learn useful business tips and hacks from members of Entrepreneurs’ Organization Philippines, a peer-to-peer network of influential business owners.

The learning session, entitled Let’s Talk Business, Pare!, was an opportunity for both Globe myBusiness and UnionBank GlobalLinker to collaborate on a shared goal: equipping MSMEs with the tools and expertise to help them grow their business.

According to Debbie Obias, vice president of segment marketing for Globe myBusiness , linking MSMEs to seasoned mentors and industry experts is essential to building on their capacities to grow, whether for learning or simply for inspiration through Globe myBusiness Academy’s online and on-ground learning sessions.  

“For a while now, we have been working with both Entrepreneurs’ Organization and Let’s Eat Pare so we thought: why not create an opportunity where they can interact and learn from one another? That way we can help foodpreneurs scale up and unlock more opportunities,” Obias said. “Empowering MSMEs create a lot of opportunities for organizations to collaborate, which is what we were able to do with UnionBank GlobalLinker.”

“Access to essential tools, resources, technical-know how, and skills-building opportunities is one of the challenges that MSMEs face. One way we’ve addressed this is the introduction of UnionBank GlobalLinker, a free and easy-to-use platform which helps entrepreneurs’ expand their network, build their stores online, and access cost-cutting deals,” UnionBank Vice President and UnionBank GlobalLinker Lead Proponent Dino Velasco added. “While we are making these solutions available, we also work with different communities and organizations like Globe  myBusiness to widen the impact we can make for MSMEs.”

During the session, foodpreneurs learned from the success stories of Bo’s Coffee founder and CEO Steve Benitez, Jimini Foods Inc.’s managing director Kerwin Tansekiao, Yellow Cab co-founder and founder of The Henry Hotel, Hanky Lee, Mida Food’s president and CEO Rick Valles, and Nacho King!’s co-founder Michael Singh.

Servings of inspiration and ideas

For foodpreneurs to grow, they must first come up with a strong brand position, the event’s speakers advised. In building Bo’s Coffee, for example, Steve chose to position his brand as the Philippines’ best source of homegrown specialty coffee, all of which are sourced from local coffee farmers. This made Bo’s

Coffee the first and largest homegrown specialty coffee chain, a local brand at par with international competitors. Only last year, Bo’s Coffee opened its 100th store in Makati.

Using keywords can also help a brand build its identity, communicate more clearly, and leapfrog competition, Hanky said. According to Hanky, owning the term “boutique hotel” is what built The Henry Hotel, which he also founded. The Henry Hotel is known as pioneering brand in that category, with properties in Manila and in Cebu.

A foodpreneur can leverage a solid brand to collaborate with other entrepreneurs through franchising and distribution, Michael adds. He also recommended the use of influencers to boost credibility and national recognition, especially in a brand’s early stages. To date, Nacho King! has  several hundred outlets nationwide, with over 1,000 institutional customers, restaurants, bars, and hotels serving their nachos and dips.

In pursuing growth, Kerwin emphasized the need to constantly invest in support structures that can equip the company in hitting different milestones: manpower, infrastructure, funds, processes, systems, and other tools that can optimize operations. Jimini Foods Inc., which operates Pizza Pedrico’s, has over 800 stores and counter-top operations nationwide.

Foodpreneurs, however, should keep their costs while pursuing growth. According to Rick, finding the right suppliers can help foodpreneurs stay on budget. Drawing from his experience with Mida Food, Rick shared that most large suppliers are willing to do tasks like portioning, pre-marinating, and par frying for a toll processing fee, which gives entrepreneurs more control on cost. In terms of stretching cashflow, Rick recommends having supplier credit terms. Mida Food is currently the Philippines’ leading seafood distributor.

Growing together

As foodpreneurs pursue growth, Let’s Eat Pare founder Mark del Rosario highlighted that their journey becomes more rewarding when shared with communities who can help them learn.

“Joining communities helps businesses in many ways: they become a source of ideas, broaden your network, and expose you to opportunities like this learning session hosted by Globe myBusiness and UnionBank GlobalLinker,” Mark said.

After sharing about their journeys of building their businesses, the event’s speakers, as well as other members of Entrepreneurs’ Organization, held consultations to make the learning experience more enriching for members of Let’s Eat Pare.

About UnionBank

Union Bank of the Philippines is a publicly-listed universal bank that distinguishes itself through superior technology, unique branch sales and service culture, and centralized backroom operations. It provides a wide range of retail, commercial, and corporate banking products and services, including loan and deposit

products, cash management services, trust banking services, consumer finance, treasury and electronic banking.

UnionBank has consistently been recognized as one of Asia’s leading companies in banking and finance, ranking among the country’s top 10 universal banks in terms of key performance ratios in profitability, liquidity, solvency and efficiency.

Through the years, UnionBank has won numerous awards in key areas of Banking and Finance including "Digital Bank of the Year (2017)" Philippines from The Asset Triple A Awards, "Asia's Leader in Omnichannel Engagement" from IDC's Financial Insights Innovation Awards, "Best App for Mobile Banking" from Retail Banker International - Asia  Trailblazer Awards, “Best Universal Bank 2017” by London-based CFI.co; “Best Digital Bank Philippines” at the Asiamoney Banking Awards 2017; “Gold Banking Employer of the Year” at The Stevie for Great Employers Awards 2017; “Best HR System Project”, “Best Mobile Banking Project” and “Credit Card Product of the Year” at The Asian Banker

Philippine Country Awards 2017; “Domestic Retail Bank of the Year – Philippines” and the “Debit Card Initiative of the Year” for 2017 by Asian Banking and Finance; and "Best Investor Relations Company" for 2017 by Corporate Governance Asia.