Neighbrewhood Coffee: An Enterprise Study

Date

5-2024

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Rei Chino C. Pua

Committee Member

Rolando G. Allam, Jr., Eliza C. Aquino, Melodee Marciana E. De Castro

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser and only to those bound by the confidentiality agreement.

Abstract

Neighbrewhood Coffee is a pop-up coffee cart in Angeles City, Pampanga, near Angeles University Foundation and other schools. Owned by Ervin Joseph C. Martin, it began with Php 66,454.04 from his parents, Theresa C. Martin and Lamberto T. Martin. Originally online during the pandemic, it relaunched in March 2024 as a foldable cart serving cold-brew coffee. Martin aimed to provide quality coffee at fair prices, addressing local coffee shop issues of high prices and low quality. The cart's mobility allows it to serve where it fits, adapting from glass bottles to plastic cups for cost reduction.

Inspired by pandemic coffee exploration, Martin developed recipes with feedback from family and friends. He designed the cart and managed branding, with parental financing and support. Challenges included acquiring permits and finding a location, eventually leasing a space for six months.

The author used his connections in the schools around the area to do an informal feasibility study and to gain more understanding of the market he is catering to. Market research showed student preference for taste over price, guiding product development. It was determined that the usual qualms of the market is the lack of coffee taste in the drinks that they buy from the surrounding coffee shops. It also did not matter how sweet the drinks are, they just did not want the coffee taste to be overpowered by milk or sugar.

Before operating, the author had a hard time finding a commercial space for the start-up as everything was occupied. He found an unused space in a building that served as a utility area for other establishments in the building, he contacted the owner of the building and asked if he could rent the vacant space for a cart and the owner agreed. There was also a problem encounted with the appearance of the said space, so additional materials like a tent and a huge piece of cloth were bought to make the place more eye pleasing. The contract for the lease, which was initially for 1 year, was also renegotiated to be decreased to only 6 months. A lot more problems were also encountered in acquiring the BIR and Mayor's Permits for the business due to the problems in the contract between the owner of the building and the sub-lessor. This was solved by hiring a separate person to negotiate with the Mayor's Office regarding the situation.

The biggest problem that the business encountered was the continuous suspensions of classes due to the unbearable heat. Classes were slowly moved to online platforms due to this. This resulted in a lower-than-expected sales for the first two months of the business. The business also continued to pay for rent expenses during these two months despite the sales being limited by the suspensions of classes. To solve this, the owner wanted to make the establishment available through food-hailing applications like GrabFood, but due to the delays in the BIR registration, he was not able to do that as soon as possible.

Marketing advice emphasized understanding the market. On the production end, the author made sure that everything has a definite place where they will be put in the cart to minimize errors like spillage of ingredients and optimize the preparation time for the drinks. On the financial aspect of the business, the author had to substitute other ingredients so that the unit prices per drink gets lower, without sacrificing the quality. Instead of using liquid whipping cream, which is more expensive, the author substituted it with powdered whipping cream that can be mixed with water and whipped, the author also opted to make his own sugar syrup instead of buying ready-made high fructose syrups in the market to lower the costs. The author also used all of his connections to gather all the help he would need for the venture to lessen the need to pay for employees. His family and friends helped him in establishing and operating the business.

Some problems encountered during the operation of the business were the following: wastage of perishable ingredients like cold brew and adjusting the recipe of drinks to better fit the general taste of the market

The author gave 7 vital conditions and personalities that are needed for the entrepreneurial event to occur: passion, support of parents and friends, open-mindedness, determination, ability to take failures and rise from them, patience, and mental and emotional strength.

Language

English

LC Subject

Coffee industry, Entrepreneurship--Research

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2024 M17 M37

Document Type

Thesis

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