Want to know some trivia about specialty coffee shops in Fort Bonifacio? You will be a lot wiser after reading the following.
Does Fort Bonifacio have the largest number of Starbucks Coffee in the Philippines?
According to the website of starbucks.ph, there are 17 Starbucks in Fort Bonifacio (which includes McKinley Hill), where as Makati City has 42 branches. Quezon City has 43 branches, but its area is much bigger than Makati City. So, even though we can reach another Starbucks branch in Fort Bonifacio within every two minutes of walking, Fort Bonifacio is not the Starbucks capital of the Philippines.
Fort Bonifacio does have some interesting Starbucks related facts though, so read on.
All Starbucks branchs in Fort Bonifacio are indicated in our restaurant and cafe map. Just type ‘Starbucks’ and find the closest branch to get your fix.
click here to go to the map.
Amongst Asean countries, which one spends most in cafe?
According to a research report, Malaysians spent 68.8 USD per capita in cafe in 2014, the highest amongst five Asean countries. Filipinos annually spent under 10 USD each on average on cafe consumption. See report here.
Also, according to the same report, amongst five Asean countries, the Philippines is the most concentrated market with 96% market share belonging to top 10 players whereas Malaysia is the most fragmented market. Guess who is the biggest player of the top 10 players in the Philippines?
Who is Starbucks Coffee’s closest competitor in Fort Bonifacio?
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has 7 branches, the largest cafe chain in Fort Bonifacio after Starbucks Coffee. Obviously, this is far from matching Starbuck’s reach. Toby’s Estate is a fast rising new coffee chain star that charges even more than Starbucks for a cup of coffee. It has three outlets in Fort Bonifacio so far, but it is unlikely to be in a race to open more stores.
Has any specialty coffee shop ever closed in Fort Bonifacio?
In 2014, Figaro Coffee closed its outlet in the Fort Entertainment Complex. Tully’s closed its branch at McKinley Park Residences in 2015. Thus busted the myth that there will always be a need for another specialty coffee shop.
Who are the Independent specialty coffee shops in Fort Bonifacio, and can they as a group challenge Starbucks?
There are several, namely, Kuppa Roastery (Ecommercenter), Coffee Empire (Venice Piazza Mall), Single Origin (Bonifacio High Street), Dipdenza Coffee (Fort Entertainment Complex) and Luna Coffee (Bonifacio High Street and NAC Tower). However, most of them suffer from consistency challenge. The taste of the coffee is not always the same. This can be seen as a special characteristics of small specialty coffee shops and welcomed by some, but most customers tend to prefer consistency. The causes may be their coffee origin, roasting and brewing techniques. Another problem is that it is quite often to find that coffee from small roasteries has an sour taste. This may be due to the small batch size of each roast, making it difficult to evenly roast all beans and lead to under-roasting of some beans. Whatever the reason, it gives large chains like Starbucks an additional advantage.
Independent specialty coffee shops still deserve our support, though, as they give us diversity in products and ambiance.  Those that roast their own coffee and hand craft each cup should especially be applauded for their dedication to perfecting a single product.
Costa Coffee only has one branch in Fort Bonifacio, but it is actually an international chain.
Other trivia:
(i) The value of ambiance
A HOPE 500ml bottled water costs P50 in Starbucks, and P12.50 in a supermarket. A tetrapack of Vita Coco costs P65 in Starbucks, P32.85 in a supermarket. In Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, its own brand of sparkling apple iced tea costs P95, you can buy it for around P50 in a convenience store. The additional cost you pay for is the comfort of enjoying the drink in an upscale environment versus the setting of a convenience store.
(ii) They ain’t no convenience store
Starbucks Branches closed on Saturday and Sunday: Many office buildings are ghost towers at weekends. No wonder these branches are closed : Sunlife center, RCBC building, Net Quad, Globe HQ, One World Square (McKinley Hill).
(iii) They must really like the coffee
Starbucks with drive through at 32nd and 7th (Cross Road) is one of four Starbucks branches with a drive-through in the whole of the Philippines. So this branch of Starbucks is the only one in the whole of Metro Manila that has a drive-through.
Since customers who use the drive-through do not get to enjoy the ambiance of the coffee shop, the craving for caffeine or taste of Starbucks coffee must be the only reason that they use it.
(iv) The Fort people must have discerning taste in coffee
Starbucks created the Reserve brand of coffee shops to show that it cares about coffee quality as much as the boutique specialty coffee shops do. Starbucks Reserve shops carry more coffee bean varieties than other branches, and these beans are supposed to have unique origin, be roasted in small batches, and have distinct flavor. There are around 7 Starbucks Reserve in the whole of Metro Manila, and guess what, two of them are in Fort Bonifacio, one in Burgos Circle (8 Forbestown Center), and the other at Central Square, Bonifacio High Street. In a Starbucks Reserve, you get to chat with a coffee barista about coffee like you would talk to a wine sommelier – don’t say they do not work on impressing you.
Do you know of other interesting coffee shop trivia? share with us by commenting on this article.
