Foodparks to expand in PH retail market this year

The expansion of malls outside Metro Manila, as well as the establishment of the millennial-driven food parks, may be expected in the retail property market this year, a property analyst said.

In an email to The Manila Times, Prime Philippines managing director Jet Yu said demand for sites for building foodparks is seen increasing this year, mainly driven by the millennial market.

“With its surge in popularity, more and more vacant lots will be obtained or leased out for the purpose of food parks. We may project this trend similar to the trend of food markets like Mercato, which had a boom in 2011 in terms of new food markets established and set up,” Yu said.

The managing director said the demand for vacant lots for food parks increased by more than 10 times in Metro Manila last year.

“2016 saw the rise in popularity of food parks stemming from establishments such as StrEat Maginhawa, which was followed by multiple food parks along the area and in other cities,” Yu said.

Apart from catering to the millennial market, the food park trend also presents advantages for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) market, Yu said.

“Food parks give small scale businesses the venue to thrive and profit from a captive market setup with relatively lower costs compared to taking out a lease at bigger establishments. Yu explained.”This is timely as business registration of both old and new businesses continue to increase,” Yu explained.

“With the food park craze, rapid establishment has already begun from last year, and more food parks will be established until the end of 2017,” the managing director said.

Aside from the food park trend, Yu said another trend to expect in the retail market this year is the expansion of mall developers to areas outside of Metro Manila.

“As for the major mall developers, there are no signs of slowing down as the outlook for expansion outside Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao remains a top-priority for 2017,” Yu said.

According to Jones Lang Lasalle Philippines Regional Director Sheila Lobien that expansion of mall developers towards the provincial areas is in line with bringing the needs of consumers closer to them so that they would not have to travel to Metro Manila for their basic needs.

“They go outside of Metro Manila but to offer basic requirements first, not the high-end brands. So they’re going to provincial areas to put up shops or a supermarket or very basic restaurants with everything there,” Lobien said.

“It is expected that mall developers will unveil a more distinctive tenant mix to cater to the demanding taste of the millennial,” Yu said.