Food & Drinks – POPXOP

A food business is a lucrative endeavor as it offers a good markup - with an average of 100% profit margin. And this can be achieved with only need a few hundred pesos to start. To add, the lockdowns and restrictions on restaurant dine-ins have made Filipinos more adventurous in trying out food ordered online. Ube Pandesal - the trending foodstuff in 2020. Credit: Miguel Lorenzo With a food business, you would want to focus on selling in websites where there's high traffic such as: InstagramFacebookTiktokClassified Ads Sites These website are mostly easy to use, and with just a few uploads of pictures and descriptions a decent amount of prospective customers will view you profile and possibly order. Instagram The website known for fancy photos is a hotbed for food entrepreneurs, and a lot of people have started selling on this platform and have gone "viral". Take for instance The Murang Seafood Platter, which offers crab, lobster and other seafood specialties starting at PHP 499, started its run at the onset of the pandemic last 2020 and has since gotten more 27,000 followers a year after. Since it is a social platform centered on photos, presentation on Instagram is key. One doesn't need to hire professional photographers to be a hit, but you should master food photography techniques such as flat lay, bokeh, and minimizing clutter. TIP: Highlight special offers and affordable pricing on Instagram. The audience for Instagram is mostly the millennial and Generation Z set, so affordability and value are two of the main things buyers on Instagram look for. Facebook Facebook is also a huge site for food businesses as it caters to millennials to baby boomers. With this large audience it is sometimes not obvious how to break through with a food business in this social network unlike Instagram. Unlike before where Facebook Pages were widely promoted in newsfeeds, Facebook groups have taken the limelight. So with this in mind it is important to maintain your Facebook page as well as to engage with Facebook groups that have members in your target demographic. Do this by joining Facebook groups and ask permission directly from moderators. It may seem intimidating at first but they are always happy to help - you can even send them samples for added incentive. A food business on Facebook such as Pop's Original Lumpianiza would then benefit contacting party planning groups on Facebook since they offer a pinoy party stable (with some new twist). This is necessary work as solely working on a Facebook page won't make your business stand out easily. Tiktok This newer social media app uses video-heavy content, and if you have time to shoot videos it may pay big time since its social feed is not as crowded as Instagram and Facebook. The app has mass appeal, and it is also worth highlighting the affordability and value of the food you offer. Classified Ads Sites This marketing move may seem old-school but it makes sense when you want to plant seeds for organic marketing. Classified ads sites such as Carousell, MyBenta and Locanto.ph mostly rank high in search engines especially if the user inputs the exact the words that describe your product. It is therefore wise to include lots of product shoots and highly descriptive paragraphs in your ads listings for these classified ads sites. Top Food Delivery Services For Businesses The following delivery services are the best if you want your customers to receive your product as fresh as you want it to be. These offer instant and same-day booking and delivery. GrabExpressAngkasToktokDingdong GrabExpress GrabExpress pioneered the instant delivery booking and offers reliability with the tracking feature on the Grab app. Average within-the-city delivery fee ranges from PHP 100 to 120 and they offer discounts that slash the fees to 50%. Angkas Although its app is a bit clunky to use, the motorcycle ridesharing app has started offering instant delivery during the pandemic in 2020. It is known for its cute tweets and memes on its Twitter page. Angkas offers lower fees than Grab, but with its clunky interface you would need to explicitly write directions or call the rider to ensure your product is delivered the soonest time possible. Newcomers: Toktok and Dingdong These two have come out to join the battle with GrabExpress and Angkas for food delivery supremacy. As newcomers they have the upper hand by offering lower fees, but availability in certain areas may be an issue. Some More Tips For Buying and Selling Food Online Food products are mostly perishable goods, and obviously proper handling in the kitchen is key for maintaining a good reputation among customers and for repeat business. It is also good to invest on proper food packaging to ensure the food you offer travel well and are still pleasant to look at after a several kilometers of bumpy Philippine roads. Food Ideas To Sell Online Philippines If you are looking to expand the products you are offering or at this point still researching on the top selling food to sell online, the following have seen an upward trend lately in terms of buyers and sellers in the Philippines for food businesses: Regional Delicacies like LonganisaNative Desserts or KakaninSeafood PlattersParty Food such as Pancit One doesn't need to research extensively for ideas - just look at the food your are seeing on your Facebook or Instagram newsfeed. Of course you have to make the product your own by spinning it differently from what is currently being offered out there, and for your business to be unique.