Alfamart pushes for mutual growth with ‘local jewel’ partnerships
As the pandemic has isolated us from each other for over a year now, compassion and love for another have taken on new meanings and new faces. For 48-year old baker Jannice Enas, kindness takes the form of her baked goods, fresh out-the-oven and made with care. She realized through her passion for baking that feeding others through a community-based bakery was her life’s calling, and thus, 12C-4 Bread Station was born.
But passion, however fierce, is only half of the equation. Jannice and her team faced various challenges in the genesis of her bakery: the pandemic, of course, but also flooding from the recent typhoons, and logistical obstacles for setting up a physical bakery in the middle of community lockdowns.
“It was difficult to create something like this and have our safety be secondary to the pandemic,” shared the 12C-4 Bread Station franchisee.
This is where Alfamart, the country’s first and only Super Minimart chain, stepped in and changed everything. Jannice shared that once the Bread Station team had committed to working with a franchise, Alfamart was the first and perfect choice. 12C-4 Bread Station recently opened its doors to customers in the Silingan 1 Alfamart branch Rosario, Cavite.
“Bread Station has blossomed since we started working with Alfamart. Customers who visit the super minimart find it equally convenient to have a bakery right beside it where they can pick up their fresh baked goods,” she said.
Besides convenience, Alfamart has provided Bread Station with a landmark location and with ample parking space, giving customers every reason to keep coming back. Jannice also owes 12C-4 Bread Station’s growth to the values and mission it shares with Alfamart: feeding the community, and serving the underserved.
“Once there was a clear direction to work with a franchise, we chose Alfamart because their structure offers exactly what we want to offer to our customers and community as well,” Jannice shared. It turns out, Alfamart was the missing half of the Bread Station equation.
“Local businesses are always welcome to partner with Alfamart,” said Alfamart Philippines’ Zet Barrinuevo, Head of Leasing. “12C-4 Bread Station is just one of the many businesses that we work with so we can showcase the best products from the local community in each of our stores. We are always looking to put a spotlight on each community’s local jewels,” she further explained.
Alfamart’s doors are always open to small businesses looking to grow together. For more information on partnership opportunities, visit https://www.alfamart.com.ph/be-a-tenant
“Empathic Leadership” helped Alfamart grow to 7th Anniv
Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines, has had quite an admirable rise from obscurity. From the fledgling first store in Trece Martires, Cavite in June of 2014, it has grown to over 1000 stores in a span of seven years.
This achievement was the result of a number of factors. Surely, being partnered with a retail luminary such as SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) was a significant facet to their success. However, Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey T. Ong credits the brand’s accomplishment to Alfamart’s people-centric culture and its people. “Since we started in the Philippines, we made sure to adopt the core values of the founders of Alfamart and SM,” Ong said.
Ong was referring to Alfamart founder Djoko Susanto, a self-made billionaire and one of the top Indonesian entrepreneurs, and the late Henry Sy, Sr., founder of SM.
Both men had similar rags-to-riches stories. In the same way that Henry Sy Sr. started SM by selling borrowed shoes from a store and turned it into what it is today, Djoko Susanto started Alfamart in 1999 and was able to make it grow from a single store into more than 17,000 all over Indonesia today.
The founders are the constant inspiration of every Alfamart staff member as they serve their customers.
COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns failed to stop Alfamart’s expansion, and a lot of that is attributed to the dedicated Alfamart staff–from management to store frontliners. Alfamart took measures to keep its employees safe, especially at the height of the pandemic: free shuttle service, WFH arrangements, reassignment of staff to closer branches and many others. “It is important to care for our staff because the employee experience and the customer experience are directly linked,” said Charity Trinidad, Alfamart’s Assistant Vice President for Human Resources. “We have to look out for our employees so they can provide excellent customer service,” she added.
From Dream to Meme: Minute Burger’s resilience through the decades
Gen Xers and early millennials may remember Minute Burger as a quaint homegrown fast food brand in the 90s. It grew to have a few brick-and-mortar stores during that decade. Late into the 2010s, Minute Burger has become an Internet hero and is especially known to Gen Z because of its “Meme Lord” status.
Naturally, the memes were just part of what gave Minute Burger its fame in the age of the Internet. Even before they became social media darlings, Minute Burger has been relevant due to a combination of having a good value-for-money product and picking the right partners to grow with.
Minute Burger is owned by the Leslie Corporation, best known for being the makers of Clover Chips. It is one of the longest standing Buy 1, Take 1 burger brands in the market and has been operating since 1982. Throughout its history, it has been keen on being more accessible to its market, and it found that partnering with the first and only Super Minimart in the Philippines was a good way to achieve that.
Alfamart Philippines first caught Minute Burger’s attention in 2018, as the Super Minimart had been aggressively expanding through the CALABARZON via partner tie-ups. Minute Burger Site Development Manager Ricardo Santos saw an opportunity and started a partnership with Alfamart to make location hunting easier for their franchisees. “Part of our strategy is to provide local opportunities for franchisees,” he said. “Minute Burgers [franchise] guidelines and procedures are easy to follow and especially adaptable to the needs of the franchisee and the lessors like Alfamart,” he added.
The business model of Alfamart Philippines hinges on cultivating strong partnerships, and this has been a driving force for the company since they started operations in 2014. “Partnerships have always been one of the key factors to our growth,” said Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey Ong. “By working with partners who are just as passionate as we are in giving value to the communities we serve, we were able to open more than a thousand stores in just six years,” Ong continued.
Ong further explained that partnerships with Alfamart are more than just an exchange of services or goods. “It’s an exchange of ideas and concepts on how we can give the best service to our customers and their respective communities. In the case of Minute Burger, we took lessons from them when it came to adapting to their market’s needs, while we gave them a few pointers on their logistics,” Ong explained. “This sort of collaborative ecosystem, where all the partners add something to each other, ensures constant improvement, which results in better ways to serve customers. Everybody wins.” Ong concluded.
Currently Minute Burger has over 600 branches nationwide; all franchise-owned. Four of those are in Alfamart stores, each in Sumulong, Marikina; Mayondon, Laguna; Tanza Cavite; and Maragondon, Cavite. “Our partnership with Alfamart has allowed us to channel opportunities, and strengthen our position, enabling us to tap the residential market,” Santos said.
For more information about partnership opportunities with Alfamart Philippines, please visit https://www.alfamart.com.ph/do-business-with-us/.
Beware of fake Alfamart online accounts
We have received reports that there have been fake accounts and websites pretending to be Alfamart. Please be reminded that all information on promos, store schedules, and many other Alfamart-related announcements are published only via our official Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AlfamartPHOfficial), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/alfamart-trading-philippines-inc/), and web (https://alfamart.com.ph) pages.
If you see any other pages apart from the ones specified above posting Alfamart-branded content, we would be grateful if you would report these pages to us.
Let us all be careful and, most importantly, be safe.
All Alfamart branches to remain open on Holy Week, special deals on seafood
Alfamart recently announced that all of its branches will be open to serve their respective communities this coming Holy Week. The first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines has over 1000 branches mostly in Central and Southern Luzon.
As most of the public are still quite wary about travel due to the resurgence of the pandemic, nearby Super Minimarts like Alfamart have become a convenient, safe, and affordable way to get groceries.
Moreover, because a good number of customers will likely be observing fasting and abstinence during the Lenten season, Alfamart is also running special deals on their frozen fish, specifically the 1kg packed Salmon Heads (Php 130), 550g Frozen Pampano (Php 217) and 1kg Squid Rings (PhP 310). Also available at reasonable prices are: SeaKing 420g (Php 179), Marinated Hot Bangus 400g (Php 179), Unseasoned Bangus Belly (Php 220), and 500g Whole Marinated Bangus (PhP 205). Prices may be subject to change without prior notice.
“The Lenten season, coupled with the ongoing pandemic, will see a lot of communities looking to access stores for their daily needs,” said Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey Ong. “With our mission of providing a complete, convenient, and affordable shopping experience to even the smallest barangay, our doors will, of course, be open to the communities we serve,” he continued.
For more information on Alfamart’s offerings, please visit https://www.alfamart.com.ph/shop-with-us/.
Consumers turn to Super Minimart as transition to ‘normalcy’ continues
Almost a year into varying levels of quarantine, the country has experienced quite a lifestyle shift that made people wary of going out too far from their homes.
While most are expecting the restrictions to taper off, we are still far from being “back to normal”. So there are still a few who choose to err on the side of caution, especially families who live with children and/or seniors.
“I try not to go far, or to any places that may be crowded, when I have to shop for our household needs,” said Beverly, a household helper in a Quezon City subdivision. Beverly is employed by a senior citizen couple so she cannot go off too far and risk infection. “Fortunately, we have an Alfamart here inside the subdivision; walking distance from the house. That’s where I tend to shop nowadays,” she continued in Filipino.
Beverly added that, over the past year, she and other people in their subdivision have gotten used to going to Super Minimarts. “We thought the [Alfamart] was just a convenience store, but over the pandemic we discovered that it does provide other items like meat, fish, and many other household needs.” she said.
Minimarts have become a welcome convenience to communities, especially during the pandemic. According to Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines, while there has understandably been less foot-traffic in their stores, the amount of items purchased per customer has increased.
“It was a welcome challenge to serve and provide in the midst of the pandemic,” said Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey Ong. “We needed to make sure that our employees were safe and can continue to serve our customers, as well as maintain other aspects of our operation such as warehousing, distribution, and construction of new stores,” he continued.
Ong added that the effort was all worth it because people have seen how complete, convenient, and affordable Alfamart is.
“The past year was indeed a test of how committed we are to the communities we serve,” Ong said. “As we continue to expand beyond our 1000-store milestone, we will have more in store for our customers, our suppliers, our lessors, and each and everyone of our partners,” he concluded.
For more information on Alfamart, please visit https://www.alfamart.com.ph/shop-with-us/.
More in store for Alfamart partners
Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines, has been expanding its reach for the past six years of its Philippines operations. In that short period of time, Alfamart has opened over 1,000 branches by 2020 (a notably challenging year due to the pandemic).
As it expanded over the years, small businesses and individuals partnered with Alfamart were also able to ride on Alfamart’s expansion. Martiniano “Degs” Valencia was one of those individuals.
Degs has always had the heart and soul of an entrepreneur. As a young schoolboy in Sta. Rita, Pampanga, Degs plied the streets of his hometown, selling boiled corn and fresh carabao’s milk to earn some extra cash. His entrepreneurial streak continued well into his college years, supplying Pampanga’s meat products to various stores in Manila.
Martiniano “Degs” Valencia (center), a former OFW, is enjoying the fruits of his decision to become a partner and co-owner of the Alfamart in his hometown in Sta. Rita, Pampanga. Degs’ branch helped his local community survive the pandemic during the resulting lockdowns.
He had to put a pause on his passion for business when he entered the workforce. First as a broadcast engineer for a big TV network in the Philippines, then as a technical controller in Dubai. After more than a decade of being an employee, he and his wife decided to come back to the Philippines, which also turned to an opportunity to reignite Degs’ entrepreneurial spirit.
Degs invested most of his earnings on his land in Sta. Rita, building a commercial complex. That’s when he was approached by Alfamart with a partnership offer, to become a lessor of an Alfamart branch in his hometown. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“I always wanted to have a grocery store as a main business,” Degs said. “Alfamart did us one better and gave us the opportunity to partner with a Super Minimart,” he added.
When the pandemic struck, Degs lost some income because some of the tenants in his commercial complex closed down. Despite that, they survived because they had the Alfamart branch that sustained them. “We’re glad that [our branch] was able to remain open as people still did need a nearby Super Minimart, especially when people were not allowed to travel too far from their homes,” he said. “The community helped our branch survive and vice-versa,” he shared.
The dynamics between the community and the store encouraged Degs to offer up his other lots as possible Alfamart locations. Currently, Alfamart is working on opening a new branch at Deg’s other property in the neighboring municipality of Guagua.
Alfamart is looking forward to partnering with more people like Degs. “After 1,000 stores, we’re still moving forward with plans to reach more areas in the country. And we’ll pretty much do what we did before, find the perfect people and businesses to partner with,” said Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey Ong. “We definitely have more in store for our partners, both current and potential.
Alfamart Expands to Zambales With Olongapo Branch Opening
Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines, recently opened its newest in SM City Olongapo; its first store in the province of Zambales. According to Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey Ong, it represents a milestone in the brand’s expansion. “Our goal has always been to reach more underserved communities, to provide them with a convenient and affordable Super Minimart where they can get their daily needs,” said Ong. “This latest store in Olongapo will be our ‘branch-off point’ as we reach out to serve more communities in Zambales,” he continued.
Olongapo City Mayor RolenC. Paulino was also in attendance at the opening of the new branch.
Alfamart had a banner year in 2020. Despite the challenges, they were able to open their 1000th store last November. “The opening of the 1000th store is less an end and more of a new beginning. We were able to expand, despite 2020’s challenges, thanks to our staff, our partners, and the supportive communities that we serve. With the same support system, combined with our renewed fervor for 2021, we hope to continue expanding and reach more underserved communities and to grow with them,” Ong added.
Tough Transitions
Eden Satinitigan is a businessman that has enjoyed a comfortable career as one of the owners of two companies. KDJA Construction Services, an engineering and construction firm, and SafeXpress Logistics, Inc., a supply chain company, was business-as-usual until the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic struck.
The ensuing quarantine limited the operation of construction companies, while logistics firms had to be more stringent, and invest more, in order to keep operating amidst a pandemic. With one of their businesses pretty much in limbo, Eden knew he had to make a drastic shift to compensate.
Fortunately for him, One of SafeXpress’s clients for the past two years \was Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart in the Philippines. So when he decided to open up the take-out roast chicken stall, Chic.boy Republik , he knew exactly whom to partner with to give his new business an instant boost.
“I knew the correct door to knock on,” Eden said. “Then phone calls turned into meetings. Then meetings turned into what Chic.Boy Republik Corp is today,” he continued.
Barely six months from opening their first two stalls in the Saog and Sta. Rosa II Alfamart branches (both in Marilao, Bulacan), Chic.Boy Republik expanded to three more branches in other Alfamart stores.
Eden credited the success of the business to the advice he got from Alfamart. “We were new to the food business so we really needed all the help we could get,” he said. “Alfamart has been very supportive of us since day one. They helped us make sound business decisions as we explored this whole new world of the food business,” he added.
“Alfamart is always ready to help its partners,” said Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey T. Ong. “We’ve always had a culture of inclusive growth, and aim to raise each other up. This remains true whether it be in times of crisis or of relative comfort. Partnering with Chic.Boy Republik was a joy because they were willing to take risks, and eager to improve in their new line of business,” he continued.
Alfamart Philippines is always looking for small businesses to partner with. For more information on how your business can work together with Alfamart, visit https://www.alfamart.com.ph/be-a-tenant/.
Alfamart opens 1000th store, promises to continue growing with communities served
Employees and managers of Alfamart Philippines opened their 1000th store in Barangay Santiago, General Trias, Cavite in a simple celebration. Amid the modest festivities, however, every person is feeling satisfaction that they can express only with joyful eyes, as their respective masks hide their smile.
The scene above essentially mirrors the journey of Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines, in achieving their 1000-store milestone amid a global pandemic. It was a journey of many successes that are humbly accepted as challenges to continue working and to always do better.
Alfamart Philippines COO Harvey Ong recalled when they opened the first ever Alfamart in the neighboring city of Trece Martires, Cavite back in 2014. “It’s almost as if we’ve gone full circle,” he remarked. “We are thankful for the customers who support us and the communities we served. We were only able to achieve these milestones because of them,” he continued.
The employees themselves expressed their happiness and satisfaction, not just with reaching the 1000-store milestone, but also with how Alfamart has treated them in general. “The milestone represents the dedication [of Alfamart] to provide service to communities, especially during the pandemic,” said Zeus Cuenca, an Alfamart Shift Leader at the Mambog 1, Bacoor, Cavite branch. “The fact that we are providing a necessary service to 1000 communities makes us really see the impact and value of our work,” he expounded.
Jessica Maniago, a newly hired Logistics Assistant at Alfamart’s Mexico, Pampanga distribution center, expressed admiration about Alfamart’s hiring during the pandemic. “Many companies had to let go of people [during the pandemic]. But, in the case of Alfamart, instead of retrenching, we hired, so we could give opportunities to those who need them,” she said.
Alfamart also values its partnerships with small businesses. They consign and carry many brands like Bakeshop16 and DECS. These brands have built a loyal customer base in their respective cities, but through partnering with Alfamart, they were able to reach new markets by having access to their 1000 stores. Alfamart also subleases their extra space to SMEs like Express Clean, a self-service laundry shop, which was able to expand to seven branches through their partnership with the Super Minimart.
Ong further explained how keeping themselves rooted to their advocacy of developing communities and growing with them is important as they move forward. “The 1000 store milestone is not by any means a ‘finish line’, he said. “It is the start of bigger opportunities to grow with everyone we encounter—our employees, our business partners, our communities, and everyone else who relies on Alfamart,” he concluded.