FOOD CART IDEA. RICE IN A BOX CONCEPT Still Alive.

As cost of a Office Worker Meal goes up at the same time as Office Worker Real Take-Home pay goes down, there will be a market for an affordable meal.  THEY HAVE NOT INVENTED THE OFFICE WORKER RUNNING ON BATTERIES YET (notwithstanding the Energizer bunny that keeps on going and going).

Enter the Rice in a Box.  The original concept came from those Movies showing the actors going for a Box of Chinese fanfare with matching chopsticks. Now, Rice in a Box may come in those upright triangular-shape Chinese take-out food packs or more commonly, styropack plastic containers (that is being banned by ever more Green is Good Mayors).


One such MAFBEX exhibitor is Jolliant Rapsa Pinoy (821 5840 or 821 9540.  Their Franchise package goes for P188,000 with signage and equipment (no mention about the cost of the cart being included).  Space required is 4 sqm and franchise is 3 years.

Menu shows Meals at P39 and P49 which is good as all the fastfood giants to which they will have to compete against offer P39 to P50 meals:

1.  Jollibee 39ers     P39.00/order

2.  KFC Flavor shot with drink P50.00

3.  McDo Chicken fillet with drink also at P50.00

By the way, I would like to invite you to visit my Sulit Homepage as there are some business opportunities that you guys might be able to help me out with. If you are interested, just click the Sulit Logo below:


By the way, I am conducting a One-on-One Consultation on How to Setup and Operate Your Own Lotto Outlet. Topics include How to Evaluate a Site for Lotto, The Proper Way to Apply with the PCSO, Actual Operations, How to Prevent Fraud, How to Compete Against Other Lotto Outlets and many more. Please allot at least 2 hours for each session. My fee is only P2,000 per person (Group discount available). Just text me your full name and "Lotto Setup" to 0922-8831225 or call 514-2905 for details.

Acquiring a Lotto outlet is a lot cheaper than purchasing a Franchise from Zagu (P320,000) or Siomai House (P250,000) and it is simple to operate.

Latest news: PCSO has lowered the Cash Bond requirement and an individual is now allowed to own 3 lotto outlets.

FOOD CART IDEA. Is It Still Worth It to Have a Coffee Kiosk?

I am a coffee lover.  I cannot start my day without my MUG of JAVA (kape to Pinoys).  I take mine without cream.  Ugh.

I have always dreamed of having my own Coffee shop or Cart but with Starbucks lording it over everyone, is it still viable especially with the high cost of high-pedestrian traffic sites & skyhigh renovation costs?

MAFBEX Delonghi booth showing the latest automatic and semi-auto espresso machines (Mobile 0928 3736019)

Semi-automatic espresso machines are considered better than Fully-auto espresso machines because one can fine-tune the espresso much better.

There were other booths showing coffee machines like San Remo brand etc.

Some things I learned when I enrolled at the Maya Kitchen Coffee Barista 101 course which fortunately was handled by Eric, a former Starbucks Middle East barista and bartender:

1.  Go for the semi-automatic espresso machines

2.  Do not get espresso machines that have an integrated Grinder in the unit itself.  (It may seem cheaper to have a combined Grinder plus Espresso machine rather than buy them separately but in the Combined setup, the heat from the espresso machine will cause the important Coffee oil inside the coffee beans to dry up thereby weakening the aroma of the espresso.

3.  You do not have to buy the best espresso machine BUT YOU HAVE TO BUY THE BEST GRINDER (Marzoli, Eric recommends).  A cheap grinder may have knives that heat-up during use and cause th coffee beans to dry.

4.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COPY STARBUCKS' MENU.  If you do, people would rather go to the Original, and not you.


By the way, I would like to invite you to visit my Sulit Homepage as there are some business opportunities that you guys might be able to help me out with. If you are interested, just click the Sulit Logo below:


By the way, I am conducting a One-on-One Consultation on How to Setup and Operate Your Own Lotto Outlet. Topics include How to Evaluate a Site for Lotto, The Proper Way to Apply with the PCSO, Actual Operations, How to Prevent Fraud, How to Compete Against Other Lotto Outlets and many more. Please allot at least 2 hours for each session. My fee is only P2,000 per person (Group discount available). Just text me your full name and "Lotto Setup" to 0922-8831225 or call 514-2905 for details.

Acquiring a Lotto outlet is a lot cheaper than purchasing a Franchise from Zagu (P320,000) or Siomai House (P250,000) and it is simple to operate.

Latest news: PCSO has lowered the Cash Bond requirement and an individual is now allowed to own 3 lotto outlets.

SMALL BUSINESS IDEA. Product Packaging Is What Sells Your Products.

The Packaging material you use for your product HAS A STRONG BEARING ON YOUR PRODUCT because IT IS THE FIRST THING THAT YOUR CUSTOMER WILL SEE ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT.

If it is a new product and you want the consumer to try your product, you might consider offering in SACHET form.

I was told when sachets were first introduced, the idea in other countries was to give these sachet samples for free.  But in the Philippines, it is different:  the sachet has now become a new variant.

Because of limited spending money, the typical Filipino housewife has to find ways to stretch the budget till the next payday (hence, term "15th" and "30th".  This has given rise to the Filipino's "TINGI" mentality, to wit:

     1.  Soy sauce (toyo), vinegar (suka), salt and other condiments are decanted (repacked) from their original bottle or bag packing into small plastic bags.

     2.  The Pinoy's breakfast upper, Kape or coffee, is in 3-in-1 (coffee+creamer+sugar) sachets

     3.  Also shampoo and conditioner for the department store salesladies

Machine that fills sachets in different sizes

Cooking oil can be filled into sachet inc solids

A packaging material can be used to primarily protect your product but it can also be used to present your product to your customers in a  DELICIOUS AND ENTICING WAY as can be seen in the Image below.

Packaging material to PROTECT YOUR PRODUCT & ATTRACT YOUR CUSTOMERS

Checkout the MAFBEX booth below and you can see the play of colors  as well as the variety of packaging materials meant to draw the customer to their booth.

By the way, I would like to invite you to visit my Sulit Homepage as there are some business opportunities that you guys might be able to help me out with. If you are interested, just click the Sulit Logo below:


By the way, I am conducting a One-on-One Consultation on How to Setup and Operate Your Own Lotto Outlet. Topics include How to Evaluate a Site for Lotto, The Proper Way to Apply with the PCSO, Actual Operations, How to Prevent Fraud, How to Compete Against Other Lotto Outlets and many more. Please allot at least 2 hours for each session. My fee is only P2,000 per person (Group discount available). Just text me your full name and "Lotto Setup" to 0922-8831225 or call 514-2905 for details.

Acquiring a Lotto outlet is a lot cheaper than purchasing a Franchise from Zagu (P320,000) or Siomai House (P250,000) and it is simple to operate.

Latest news: PCSO has lowered the Cash Bond requirement and an individual is now allowed to own 3 lotto outlets.

Food Cart Idea. Siomai. The Greatest and Longest-living Foodcart.

JCM FOODLINK FOODCART

If anybody is planning to go into the Food cart business, then it has to be Siomai especially the Steamed version.

At P25.00 per order for 4 pieces, it is just enough for the wallets of most working Filipinos.  Some add Rice to make it more filling for just P30.00 for the whole meal.

And when it comes to the Siomai foodcart, many have decided  having their own brand of siomai as the veteran Siomai franchises like Siomai House and Master Siomai are just too expensive for them (P280,000 and up just for the franchise package).  Most siomai makers will even provide a steamer free of charge so long as you order your siomai with them.  One such outfit is JCM Foodlink.  I know they are famous as I get a lot of inquiries in my blog asking for their contact numbers (which I will provide later in this post).

JCM FOODLINK foodcart offer

During the MAFBEX 2012, JCM Foodlink offered several ways of going into business with them:

1.  Be a Master Franchisee for P88,888 wherein you get an Area Distribution Exclusivity (meaning you get to supply JCM products within an area)

2.  Setup a Food cart business for just P38,888.

3.  Sell JCM products such as siomai and siopao.  If pickup, the price of siomai is P2.17/pc or P8.68 for an order of 4. Selling price is P25.00 for 4-pcs.

       For delivery, the price goes up slightly to P2.25 for a minimum order of P3,000.

JCM Foodlink Menu board

JCM FOODLINK HOTLINE      254-3305





By the way, I would like to invite you to visit my Sulit Homepage as there are some business opportunities that you guys might be able to help me out with. If you are interested, just click the Sulit Logo below:


By the way, I am conducting a One-on-One Consultation on How to Setup and Operate Your Own Lotto Outlet. Topics include How to Evaluate a Site for Lotto, The Proper Way to Apply with the PCSO, Actual Operations, How to Prevent Fraud, How to Compete Against Other Lotto Outlets and many more. Please allot at least 2 hours for each session. My fee is only P2,000 per person (Group discount available). Just text me your full name and "Lotto Setup" to 0922-8831225 or call 514-2905 for details.

Acquiring a Lotto outlet is a lot cheaper than purchasing a Franchise from Zagu (P320,000) or Siomai House (P250,000) and it is simple to operate.

Latest news: PCSO has lowered the Cash Bond requirement and an individual is now allowed to own 3 lotto outlets.

The 7th Manila Food and Beverage Expo or MAFBEX at the WTC

Last Thursday June 14, 2012, I attended the 7th Manila Foods and Beverage Expo or MAFBEX which was held at the World Trade Center ( WTC) at the corner of Buendia Avenue and Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

I bumped into my High School classmate Gerry R. who is in the Catering Business.  Unfortunately, he commented about being disappointed as he went there to see exhibits of food ingredients and packaging materials but instead, he noticed the preponderance of so many Food carts.  He said maybe the organizers need the Food franchisors to fill up the place.

MAFBEX banner

I had to agree with him as I did see so many food franchises (there were quite a number on Milk Tea alone) that is was beginning to look like the Philippine Franchise Assn or PFA exhibit or the AFFI!!!!

I was hoping to see more booths like San Miguel Foods used to have wherein they would conduct Food demos with commercial sales possibilities and after the usual Taste Tests, the San Miguel Foods chefs would distribute sheets of paper showing the costings and possible selling prices and profit margins for us small entrepreneurs.  That is what I was hoping the MAFBEX would be.

In fact, I saw an assortment that did not even seem to jive with Foods and Beverage.  There was one booth selling Tiannge-style knick knacks or ladies fashion accessories. Huh?  Another was a massage chair or equipment booth.  Double Huh Huh??  Odd wouldn't you say in a Foods and Beverage Expo.

A Bit odd but at least it was a food ingredient is this booth that was looking for dealers of Turkish Flour.  Mr.  Rommel Serrano, Sales Representative for JSJJ Trading (0932 2096069 or jsjj_trading@yahoo.com) was certainly helpful and knowledgeable about his product.

Turkish Rice sold by JSJJ Trading.  Look for Rommel Serrano.

I am also in the Rice Retail business along with my partner and dear Family friend and Mr. Serrano explained to me the profit spread that I could earn per bag of flour.  He also explained the difference between Hard, Soft and special flour as well as their shelf life. 








There was also this Place Setting that looked kind of dainty so I took a picture of it.  Too bad it was displayed towards the rear of the hallway right beside a stage where some cooking demo was being held. It would have been good front and center.

I look forward that in the next MAFBEX, the organizers could create an identity akin to the Asia Food Expo that had a lot of food machinery, food ingredients, packaging material as well as booths that had Food Demos giving out Recipes using their products as well as costings.  That would be very helpful to entrepreneurs.

Leave the foodcart franchises to PFA and AFFI instead of having a mishmash or Chopsuey (hey thats a food!!) of concepts.

Pic along one of the many aisles in the MAFBEX floor.

By the way, I would like to invite you to visit my Sulit Homepage as there are some business opportunities that you guys might be able to help me out with. If you are interested, just click the Sulit Logo below:


By the way, I am conducting a One-on-One Consultation on How to Setup and Operate Your Own Lotto Outlet. Topics include How to Evaluate a Site for Lotto, The Proper Way to Apply with the PCSO, Actual Operations, How to Prevent Fraud, How to Compete Against Other Lotto Outlets and many more. Please allot at least 2 hours for each session. My fee is only P2,000 per person (Group discount available). Just text me your full name and "Lotto Setup" to 0922-8831225 or call 514-2905 for details.

Acquiring a Lotto outlet is a lot cheaper than purchasing a Franchise from Zagu (P320,000) or Siomai House (P250,000) and it is simple to operate.

Latest news: PCSO has lowered the Cash Bond requirement and an individual is now allowed to own 3 lotto outlets.