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The diverse food hall opened at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) last month, but more than its many food options, the logic behind the operations makes for a more interesting story. This not only differentiated the food hall from the typical mall space, but also made its options suitable depending on the location. And apart from eating in, customers have the option to order from different restaurants through delivery partners at once.
The BGC branch at GSC Corporate Tower, Triangle Drive, BGC, is the seventh of the concept: the others are in España, Taft, Pasig, Commonwealth, Makati and Parañaque. This branch includes Coco Fresh Tea & Juice, 24 Chicken, Wan Man, Bangkok Station, Potato Corner, Big Al Cookie Jar, Hearts & Bells, Mary Moo and Louis Buco.
The diverse food hall concept was founded by husband-and-wife team Jai Reyes and Josephine Kamiyama as a cloud kitchen during the pandemic. Then from 2024 onwards, they converted most cloud-kitchen branches to dine-in operations.
Each diverse food hall location has a different group of restaurant partners. “We rely heavily on per-region data, [for] Who do we think will do well,'' Mr. Reyes said businessworld. “I think we also learned from experience. One branch of the same brand doesn't perform as well as another branch. We get a lot of data from Grab and Foodpanda. In a particular area or scope, we get their help in suggesting what kind of dishes are being searched for.”
The concept is a boon for customers: “You get to eat in a place where you can have different options,” he said. “You can really only order from different brands at once.
“We kind of took the food hall out of the mall, because the delivery numbers are better when we're across the street with the dispatch window. That's a big advantage for our tenants,” he said.
They provide space and common area staff. Tenants simply set up their own kitchen and provide a kitchen staff. “Low investment, and fast expansion. That's what we tell our tenants. We provide space where they just need to put up equipment and bring in their employees.”
Plus, customers can order from multiple restaurants and pay only one delivery fee.
They are also expanding southward, with planned expansions in Alabang and Santa Rosa. According to them, the move to the south is being made in line with the “rapid expansion” selling point for their tenants, so that their tenants can have a footprint south of Manila.
On the other hand, those who still remember Jay Reyes as an Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles basketball player in the 2000s will be happy to know that he now serves as commissioner for the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the league he once played in.
When asked about his transition from basketball to business, he said, “All athletes are told someday it's time to call it quits,” he said. “I was scared, but like sports, you just do your job. Apply it, learn from your mistakes and then move on.” — JL Garcia