Marketing Mix Drivers of Business Growth of Food Parks in the Philippines

Abstract

The behavior and preference of Filipinos to eat out has given rise to the trending and popular food park business (Talavera, 2017) especially in Metropolitan Manila. The change in consumer behavior presents business advantages to micro, small, and medium enterprises (Yu, 2017) who have adopted the food park business format. Small-scale foodpreneurs thrive and profit from a captive market of local foodies by operating with relatively lower costs (De Leon, 2017) as food parks offer a convenient alternative to fast food restaurants and provide more unique dining experiences and food choices. However, just like quick service restaurants, food park operators and tenants are not without risks and challenges. As the restaurant industry becomes more saturated and competitive, and the novelty of this business format wanes, the question of business sustainability arises. Thus, it is important for entrepreneurs utilizing the food park concept to determine the factors that sustain business growth in order to remain competitive and survive in an ever evolving restaurant market. This study specifically focused on the influence of the marketing mix to the business growth of food park enterprises and found that, at 1% for a period of three years, growth of businesses using this format is slow. Annual income served as the predictor of growth of food park businesses with Promotion, out ofthe 4 P’s as the most extensively practiced and main contributing factor to their success. The place did not seem to have any influence on business growth as compared to Product and Price.