The COVID-19 pandemic prompted industries to rethink how they operate their businesses. Most of them were forced to rely heavily on technology given the mobility restrictions and strict implementation of health protocols.
To survive the economic crisis, Hungry Project Food Concepts Inc. is among those businesses which modified their approach to the challenges of the pandemic to manage their operations the ‘smarter way’. Despite the declining foot traffic in their dine-in stores, shorter operating hours, and declining sales, realizing how to effectively take on this crisis has been the biggest feat for the retailer.
“In terms of operations, we’ve become smarter in a way. We need less people to staff the stores for dine-in. In terms of operations, I think we learned from that. We don’t order a lot of ingredients for the time being,” said Zerline Chan Ortiz-Luis, General Manager of Hungry Project Food Concepts Inc.
Ortiz-Luis shared that they needed to be more discerning in terms of ordering inventory, reducing staff in branches, and negotiating rental rates.
She also noted that up to 80 percent of their sales were generated from online transactions and food delivery services. Given this, she stressed the importance of reliable internet connectivity which allowed them to receive orders from food delivery applications and customer service call centers.
The said food retailer has been subscribed to PLDT’s fast and secure Enterprise broadband to optimize the receiving and delivery of orders to customers via a reliable connectivity. As the B2B arm of the largest fully integrated telecommunications company in the Philippines, PLDT Enterprise has been supporting small to medium businesses such as Hungry Project Food Concepts Inc. through innovative digital solutions suited for their changing needs.
“We at PLDT Enterprise are continuously strengthening our connectivity and communication services to support the changing requirements of our valued MSME customers like Hungry Project Food Concepts, especially as they strive to operate their businesses in these challenging times,” said Chito Franco, PLDT Enterprise Vice President for Small and MicroBiz. “Our aim is to make a positive impact on every single business and we seek to do that by providing them with tailor fit digital solutions.”
PLDT Enterprise recently formed an exclusive Customer Advisory Board (CAB), in which Hungry Project Food Concepts is a part of, where customers from different sectors engage in a meaningful discussion of topics that would impact businesses and industries as a whole.
Furthermore, vaccine rollout was said to help regain confidence in dine-in safety but the timing when this will happen is still early to tell.
Retail is among the industries hoping that the completion of vaccine rollout would help improve sales by increasing the people’s confidence in going out of their homes which is essential for better business operations and stable financial gains.
For more information, visit pldtenterprise.com
