Icebreaker Scramble Now in MOA (near Jeepney Terminal side of SMX)

I went to the Manila International Book Fair at the SMX and I chanced upon a new Icebreaker Scramble along the line of Food Kiosks fronting the Jeepney Terminal (side of SMX and SM Department Store).



Icebreaker Scramble kiosk is just 2 or 3 stalls away from the Zagu. I was there around 3 pm and there were people buying the P17 cup despite the rains. There was no buyer at the Zagu stand but it could only be at that time.



According to the Icebreaker crew, there is a Buzbox Scramble inside MOA. It will be interesting to see who will win as these 2 brands start meeting up in MOA and late MEgamall.

Asia Food Expo: Roasted Chicken is a Hit!!! (Check-out Chooks-to-Go at the Supermarket for P169 only)

Chooks-to-Go is a product of Bounty Fresh and thru their partner-Supermarket, they are selling so much!!! The chicken is marinated and for the price, it is even cheaper than Andok's or Baliuag. AND IT TASTE SO GOOD!!!

At the Asia Food Expo 2010 or AFEX 2010, I saw displayed at the HKR booth a Henny Penny Rotisserrie, which is like the Mercedes-Benz of Rotisseries made in USA. It runs on electrics (as required by some malls) and costs a heart-stopping P365,000, more or less. There are LPG-powered units that cost a lot less but check first with the mall if they allow LPG-fired rotisseries.

This could be another Fad or it could stay for a long time if you can keep the cost down. Shopwise has been selling their hickory-flavored, garlic-flavored etc roasted chickens and they used to always get sold out.

Beats having to cook at home when both couple are working.

ASIA FOOD EXPO 2010: How About Swiss-made Brewed Coffee in a Capsule for Just P30 per cup? Think of the Profits You Could Make Selling a Cup at P70!!

During the Asia Food Expo 2010 or "AFEX 2010, I came across Nespresso. I thought it is Nestle but it is not. Nespresso is also from Switzerland (as the Nestle Corporate Office is also there) and they have a NEW WAY OF SELLING BREWED COFFEE:

1. They have their own proprietary Nespresso Espresso Machine

2. The coffee beans have already been ground and I think vacuum-sealed into capsules (see the green round thing beside the Expresso Machine in the pic below)



3. You place a cup under the spout, insert the capsule into the slot & press the button for 1 cup. Needles inside the machine pierces the capsule and as with an Espresso machine, high-pressure steam meets the ground coffee.

4. Taste is supposed to be better as the steam hits the coffee capsule at a much higher pressure than ordinary espresso machines.

5. I was surprised that the coffee showed a prominent CREMA (coffee froth) on top of the coffee.

6. Capsules come in different coffee strengths to suit taste.

7. Lastly, each capsule cost P30 ONLY meaning you could make a GOOD MARKUP.

8. Machines start at P60,000 plus or minus and up depending on the features (automatic, semi-auto or manual)

ASIA FOOD EXPO 2010: I Like This!! Coffee Vendo Machine for P34,000. Sell Coffee for P10 and Earn 40%!!

Towards the rear end of the World Trade Center Hall, I chanced upon this Korean booth selling a Coffee Vending Machine for only P34,000. Here are the features:

1. It can be Coin-operated (no need of bantay or salesperson) or it can be Manually-operated;

2. When you insert the coin (say, 2 pcs of P5 coin) and press the One-cup button, a disposable cup (6 or 8oz maybe) drops down the front and starts filling with 3-in-One coffee;

3. The rear of the machine looks like a water dispenser because there is a place to invert the water refilling container (just like your dispenser at home, see pic)



4. The Korean will supply both the dispenser and the coffee in pouches ala starbucks.

5. I tasted the coffee. It is not brewed but it tastes strong enough.



6. You have a choice of coffee, mocha or chocolate-flavor.

ASIA FOOD EXPO 2010: For The Do-It-Yourselfers, Where to Buy Affordable Kitchen Equipment??

During the AFEX 2010, visitors saw a plethora of foreign-branded kitchen and restaurant equipment for sale and selling at huge prices. What if the would-be small business entrepreneur cannot afford these brands and is looking around for affordable local suppliers?

Don't fret. At the Asia Food Expo 2010, I saw 2 outfits, Gomeco and Binondo Metalcraft selling affordable kitchen and restaurant equipment.
(pic courtesy of gomeco)

Other choices but did not exhibit is Almedah (they are a long-time fabricator of grillers, ovens, stoves etc to local burger franchises and you can also try going to the Quinta Market in Quiapo where there are many stores selling kitchen and restaurant equipment.


(courtesy of binondo metalcraft)

Scramble Wars Heats Up!!! Icebreaker Scramble Opening in Megamall Bldg B September, 2010. BuzBox Scramble Is Already Making A Killing.

Yup, that's right I heard that Icebreaker Scramble is opening in Megamall in Building B this month.

Buzbox Scramble has been in Megamall Foodcourt (Building A) for the past few months (PIC COURTESY OF BUZBOX SCRAMBLE MEGAMALL BR) and you can see the lines of teens forming at their outlet.

It will be interesting to see how this battle will go though both are located on opposite ends of the huge Megamall complex. Then again, the distance may not matter when these 2 Scramble guys duke it out on who is the REAL SCRAMBLE KING!!!!

AFEX 2010: ASIA FOOD EXPO: Want to Start Your Own Mr. Softy or Snowpy Soft Serve Ice Cream? Then, You Need This.

At the huge Technolux booth is the Taylor Soft-serve Ice Cream made in the US of A. High-Quality. Maybe the Rolls Royce of Soft serve ice cream. This is the same machine used by Jollibee for all their Rocky Road sundaes. The machine is not cheap, about P265,000 (vs maybe P50,000 for the Taiwan brand) but Technolux claim a higher 40% more yield per kilo of soft serve ice cream mix!!! Do the math.

For those who cannot afford a Rolls Royce, there were also soft serve ice cream machines made in Taiwan, Korea (cost as much as Taylor, don't know why) and China, I think.



Don't decide on cost alone. You have to think about yield (or how many cones can you do with a kilo of mix, after sales service when it breaks down and it will, availability of parts etc).

AFEX 2010: ASIA FOOD EXPO: Food Ingredients from Cosmic Chemical

I came across Cosmic Chemical as they had on display freshly-baked Pork Floss Bread a la Bread Talk.

Though the size displayed was about 3/4 the size of Bread Talk, I was surprised when the exhibitor said food cost with the pork floss is only P5/pc (P3.50/pc without pork floss).

And if you must have pork floss, the cosmic guy said he knows of a baker in Davao who uses pork floss lookalike but it is much cheaper because it is made of soya!!! Imagine pork floss taste without the fat!!!!

Also, displayed where donuts in a different shape made from their food ingredient and donut maker.

And Now Comes The Do-It-Yourself Scramble for only P22,000!!

Towards one side of the World Trade Center during the Food And Drink Asia 2010 Expo, there is this booth called Mister Scramble. My first reaction is that this is just another scramble outfit.

But what caught my attention is that for a LOW P22,000, you have already a Scramble business!!! Whoa, is that true? The Salesgirl said "Yes" and the reason it is that low is because they will only provide the Booth (see pic) and train me on how to set-up my own scramble (how to prepare the scramble product) but I will have to source for my own ingredients, provide my own logistics etc.

For some on a strict budget, this might make sense. What do you think?

Question: When is a Scramble not a Scramble? . . . . . . . . Answer: When It is a SCRAMBOI! Huh?

As part of the Scramble Bandwagon, Wynski is offering their version of the Scramble franchise called Scramboi and get this, they are offering it at only P50,000!!!


(courtesy of Scramboi Wynski Enterprises)

NOTICE ALSO THAT AT p5-p10-p15, THEY ARE OFFERING A LOWER SELLING PRICE THAN ICEBREAKER WHICH SELLS AT P7-P10-P17!!!!!

Whatever Happened to the Hong Kong Style Fried Noodle Craze???

If this year it is all about Scramble, last year was all about the HongKong Style Fried Noodles.

Remember Hong Kong Style Fried Noodles at the St Francis Square with their super-long lines of people waiting for their orders of P26 Fried Noodle topped with 2 pcs siomai and garnished with your choice of Spicy, Sweet soy sauce???

How about Taipan Fried Noodle that used to be in all the exhibits???

At the Food and Drinks Asia 2010 Expo at the World Trade Center WTC, I only saw one offering Fried noodle, see below:


(courtesy of Hongkong Fried noodle)

Anak ng Siomai!!! Is This a Price War or Good Value for Customers????

The good thing about the recent Food and Drinks Asia 2010 Expo at the World Trade Center is that they were able to invite the Heavyweights in the Siomai Franchises (Siomai House, Master Siomai and Henlin) whereas in the previous Franchising Expo at the SMX, I think only Master Siomai was present.


(courtesy of Mang Siomai; NOTICE THE 5PCS PER ORDER SIGNAGE on the side of the kiosk)


As I browsed the different Siomai franchises (many with the same Red-Black-White color scheme and similar sounding brand names) I came across two that advertised 5 pcs of Siomai per order (when the unofficial official standard is to have only 4 pcs per order) for the same P25.


(courtesy of JC Fran Siomai King; NOTICE THE WORDS "5PCS SIOMAI" ON THE SIGNAGE IN FRONT)

2 things struck me with this move of a Siomai newcomer:

1. It is good for the customer to have more siomai for the same price (assuming they did not cheapen the quality) and

2. Is this a way of making a Price War?????? (which may not be good for the franchisee).

Scramble Wars: From Lugaw to Scramble???

Everybody is jumping into the Scramble bandwagon. Do you think mag-Flop LATER ON JUST LIKE THE PEAK OF ZAGU/ORBITZ/QUICKLY till only Zagu and a few Quickly outlets are left????


(courtesy of scramble loco. NOTICE THE LUGAW REPUBLIC SIGNAGE ON TOP)

Seen at the Food and Drinks Asia 2010 Expo at the World Trade Center, Lugaw Republic, best known in the malls as sellers of what-else Lugaw, displayed their version of Scramble called Scramble Loco.



I tasted the product and ok naman, almost like Icebreaker on the milky side. Their style is to put the syrup (chocolate, I think) along the side of the empty cup in a spiral way before the strawberry mix is added. (Icebreaker, Scramble King and everybody else puts the syrup on top of the strawberry mix)

Trying to be creative but it takes too long to serve the order because of the need to artfully spiral the syrup by turning the cup on one hand while squeezing the syrup bottle with the other hand. Not very efficient if you have a long line/

Siomai-On-Wheels!

From the producers of Mister SYOMAI, they have come up with Siomai-On-Wheels wherein your Siomai outlet is mounted on a bicycle with a sidecar for P50,000 only.

For P250,000, they will grant you exclusivity in a barangay and allow you about 5 moving carts (I think).

Scramble Wars: Its the Scramble King

I encountered Scramble King a few weeks ago also at the World Trade Center during the Wofex, I think.

At the time, all their outlets where located in North Luzon but they said they will start opening in Manila in August. You can get a franchise for as low as P75,000 which gets you a 1 to 1-1/2 sqm wide stand. They also have a regular 2x2 kiosk which is more expensive (see below)


(courtesy of Scramble King)

They had a mascot making the rounds of the Exhibit hall----


(scramble king mascot)

As with the siomai and now with the Scramble franchises, there seems to be a lot of similarities in kiosk & packaging designs between the established brand and the newcomers. BUT THERE ARE DISTINCT DIFFERENCES IN PRODUCT TASTES. Don't take my word for it. GO OUT AND SAMPLE THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SCRAMBLE.

Scramble king is the scramble outfit whose product most closely resembles the packaging of Icebreaker Scramble both in the cup appearance and the visual presentation of the product (see my previous post on scramble king for a comparison by clicking "The Scramble War Rages on" )

With All These Twisted Minds About Twist Potato, What Happens to the Potato Fries?

Conspicuously absent from the best food cart expo this year, the Food and Drinks 2010 Expo at the WTC, is Potato Corner, the company that started the potato craze. How come?

I saw JC Fran with its supermarket of franchise ideas display Potato Loops.


(courtesy of potato loops)

I saw another potato fries outfit, an older one but with a spiffed up cart, Potato Madness.


(courtesy of potato madness)

I think products of Potato franchises are getting too expensive. Potato Corner at Waltermart North EDSA pulled-out after a year--maybe because an order of fries is now P36 or P48. Twistix is selling at P50/P70 an order. You have to think P50 will get you a Mang Inasal Chicken Rice Meal for P49, Jollibee's Lumpia Shanghai 5pcs with Rice is P39 and Chowking's Rice in a box Chao Fan at P39. Siomai order is at P25.

Question: When is Siomai Not Siomai? . . Answer: When It is Syomai!!!

I told you there are so many siomai franchises during the Food & Drink Expo at the WTC and that most of the siomai outfits are copying each other like having the same Black-Red-White color scheme, the same script and even the same brand initials "M" and "S".

NOW COMES SOMEBODY WHO TRIES TO BE DIFFERENT . . . . . in spelling the word "Siomai" that is . . . . enter Mister SYOMAI!!!!


(courtesy of Syomai siomai)

Well, not really all that different------ its Mister Syomai as in Master Siomai as in Magic Siomai. . . . Oh well.

Question: When is Siomai Not Siomai? . . Answer: When It is Syomai!!!

I told you there are so many siomai franchises during the Food & Drink Expo at the WTC and that most of the siomai outfits are copying each other like having the same Black-Red-White color scheme, the same script and even the same brand initials "M" and "S".

NOW COMES SOMEBODY WHO TRIES TO BE DIFFERENT . . . . . in spelling the word "Siomai" that is . . . . enter Mister SYOMAI!!!!


(courtesy of Syomai siomai)

Well, not really all that different------ its Mister Syomai as in Master Siomai as in Magic Siomai. . . . Oh well.

With So Many Copycats and Origs, Franchisees BE WARNED!!! Research before Signing that Franchise Contract

1. Do you know that its a SIOMAI JUNGLE out there with so many Siomai franchises being offered all claiming to be the best? I noticed some of the Siomai booths even have the same color scheme as the market leader, Siomai House (see below)


(courtesy of siomai house, the current market leader)


(courtesy of master siomai, me thinks the Number 2)



(courtesy of magic siomai, newcomer brand)

THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME COLOR SCHEME (BLACK, WHITE & RED), THE SAME SCRIPT WRITING AND EVEN THE SAME INITIALS "M" & "S". IN THE END, YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF " DO YOU LIKE THE TASTE?" AND ""WOULD YOU BUY AGAIN?"

2. Siomai may be an All-time favorite, but which will you choose to invest your hard-earned savings, the leading brand with the higher franchise fee or the newcomer with the very much lower cash outlay?

3. And for the newcomer brands, will they still be here next year?

4. As one siomai franchisor told me, CHOOSE A BRAND WITH A PROVEN PRODUCT AND AN ESTABLISHED SUPPLY CHAIN ( how to get the supplies from the franchisor's storage and into your outlet. Some are smooth as Fedex and some are downright a Kalbaryo (Mt Calvary).

With So Many Copycats and Origs, Franchisees BE WARNED!!! Research before Signing that Franchise Contract

1. Do you know that its a SIOMAI JUNGLE out there with so many Siomai franchises being offered all claiming to be the best? I noticed some of the Siomai booths even have the same color scheme as the market leader, Siomai House (see below)


(courtesy of siomai house, the current market leader)


(courtesy of master siomai, me thinks the Number 2)



(courtesy of magic siomai, newcomer brand)

THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME COLOR SCHEME (BLACK, WHITE & RED), THE SAME SCRIPT WRITING AND EVEN THE SAME INITIALS "M" & "S". IN THE END, YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF " DO YOU LIKE THE TASTE?" AND ""WOULD YOU BUY AGAIN?"

2. Siomai may be an All-time favorite, but which will you choose to invest your hard-earned savings, the leading brand with the higher franchise fee or the newcomer with the very much lower cash outlay?

3. And for the newcomer brands, will they still be here next year?

4. As one siomai franchisor told me, CHOOSE A BRAND WITH A PROVEN PRODUCT AND AN ESTABLISHED SUPPLY CHAIN ( how to get the supplies from the franchisor's storage and into your outlet. Some are smooth as Fedex and some are downright a Kalbaryo (Mt Calvary).