The restaurant Binalot is undeniably Pinoy. Its meals are composed of typical Pinoy fare which are served wrapped snugly in fragrant banana leaves. The novelty of the presentation and good familiar Pinoy fare easily attracted a following, but it’s the unconscious nostalgic feeling of childhood that Binalot brings that made it a hit. Rommel Juan shares that this was the reason why he and his brother chose to serve Filipino food in the first place.

“Binalot was born out of childhood memories of picnics in the province, (eating) food wrapped in banana leaves (prepared) by my mom. My brother and I (thought of this idea since) we had extra time in our hands when we had just joined our family business which was in automotives,” he explains.

Rommel and his brother were looking for new options aside from the usual, readily available meals we know as fastfood fare. “We decided to bring a fresh alternative to the food scene. Amidst all the burgers, French fries, siopao and siomai, we decided to bring back something native and a back-to-basics, Traditional Pinoy kind of food and offer it to the urban rats,” Rommel says. “We wanted something iconic, something fastfood-y, modern, yet still distinctly Pinoy,” he continues.

A Delivery Service

With P10,000 in hand, and four other investors offering the same amount, the brothers invested a total of P50,000 to launch Binalot in 1996, but not as a full-fledged restaurant, or even a kiosk, but as a delivery service. “We did at least three months of research before we launched it. But since the very first day of our delivery service, the phone had not stopped ringing,” says Rommel.

Their first clientele were their own friends but it did not take long for Binalot to build up a following, thanks to the fact that it answered a need, that of providing Pinoys’ version of comfort food.

“Binalot serves all-time Pinoy favorites… such as adobo, tapa, tocino and sinigang. These are foods that Pinoys cannot go for a week without having,” explains Rommel. To increase the number of their patrons, the brothers made flyers and distributed them to buildings. ”We just started (promoting it) through word-of-mouth (advertising) at first. (And) I offered to deliver food to my friends.” When the partners finally had the chance to open in food court spaces, the stores themselves served as advertisements.

Today, a combination of mainstream and non-traditional forms of marketing raises the profile of Binalot. “Now, we do a lot of non-traditional and below-the-line advertising. We do a lot of tie-ups, TV and radio guestings, and we distribute write-ups to newspapers and have a good relationship with the media. The newest thing we are getting into is internet viral marketing,” says Rommel.

Eco-friendly fast food

Despite difficulties, such as the Asian financial crisis in 1998 among other business challenges, Binalot continued to open one store every year—rolling out the profits made the previous year to finance each expansion--until they thought of going into franchising. “We got into franchising in 2003. That’s when we grew exponentially. We now have more than 40 outlets across the metro,” Rommel says proudly.

Within their own organization, they were also able to hurdle one aspect which is a common challenge among businesses: finding the right people. “Managing people was very hard. Finding good people was also hard. But we got through it and once the right people were in their right places, things fell into place as well,” he explains.

Although still a relatively young company, Binalot has found a means to give back. “Binalot is more than just a business. It’s an advocacy. We promote nationalism. We celebrate in our stores the best that the country has to offer, from its food, its values to its culture,” Rommel says. Their iconic banana leaves makes their packaging materials biodegradable and are sourced from a community they support in Nagcarlan, Laguna.

“We have a CSR even if we are a small company,” says Rommel. They call their CSR program the DAHON Program (Dangal at Hanapbuhay para sa Nayon). “[It] is something that we are very proud of and we hope to replicate in other parts of he country,” he says.

The ever-rising competition in the fast-food business doesn’t trouble Rommel at all. “We still have our own ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ that we are confident will set us apart,” he says. It might already be cliché among business people, but the following advice is still behind Binalot owners’ drive and confidence: “Find something that you love doing and do it. Your business must be your passion. That’s the secret to success,” Rommel ends.
 
Contact details:

Binalot Fiesta Foods Inc.

Address: 3686 BUJ Building, Sun Valley Drive, Paranaque City

Telephone: 821-0509

Website: www.binalot.com