The Brewed Buddies: Brewing a Business through Pandemic Challenges

Challenges can bring opportunities, and even through the unprecedented conditions of the pandemic, a group of entrepreneurs started on their path to success. The Brewed Buddies, a homegrown coffee and tea concept shop, opened its first physical store at SM San Mateo on November 1, 2020 in the midst of the community quarantine restrictions.

This was a bold move by its five partners who pursued their dream of owning a business. In March 30, 2019, two of the partners – John Daliwan, Operations Director and Jacque Corona, President and Chief Executive Officer, attended a Franchise Expo at SMX Convention Center in Manila in search of potential franchise concepts to invest in. The group got together two months later, and while having lunch at Conrad Manila, they decided to start a business with an originally conceived concept instead.

Brewing innovation

Pooling together their expertise across different industries of food & beverage, plant operations, supply chain, and finance, the young professionals decided on venturing into a business, based on an interest that they all shared — coffee and tea beverages.

The Brewed Buddies, the idea they came up with in October 2019, was born and is based on their own personal preferences and experiences with their favourite beverages. “We felt that we didn’t want to be just another coffee and tea shop. We wanted to find our own niche in a sea of brands already existing in the market. That’s why we thought of offering naturally brewed coffee and tea-based beverages in a cup that is meant for sharing, just as how the members in our group tend to share their drinks, and also enjoyed individually,” says John Daliwan, Operations Director of Brewed Buddies.

The group decided to open at SM Malls, presenting their concept to the management of SM City San Mateo on January 2020 and through a series of deliberations and a thorough screening of the brand, they were approved to set up across all SM malls nationwide.

“Initially, we were given an award notice to operate on May 1, 2020. However we were forced to move our opening to a tentative date when the pandemic happened in March,” continued Daliwan.

On June 12, 2020, the group decided to have a soft opening by accepting pick-ups and online deliveries within their neighbourhood in Rodriguez, Rizal. They received the notification of approval from SM San Mateo management in October 2020, and started operating their mall kiosk on November 1, 2020.

Today, The Brewed Buddies operates in 7 locations at various SM malls. They have become popular for serving affordable, handcrafted Espresso and Milk Tea variants that customers can order in “Buddy Cups” with choices of two flavours in one cup and in handy “To Go” bottles. “We proudly use local beans and offer zero sugar beverages,” says Jacque Corona, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brewed Buddies. To help those affected by the pandemic, they also prioritize hiring staff who are residents living near their stores.

Thriving through passion

Daliwan says they plan for aggressive expansion by the fourth quarter of 2021. “We envision Brewed Buddies to be one of the leading coffee and tea brands in the Philippines. Quality for us means satisfying our customers’ cravings. We want to expand our unique coffee and tea experience, priced reasonably for everyone. Our edge in this competitive market is by using a value-based approach with a quality product at an affordable price.”

“With the variety of its caffeine-based offerings, customers will surely get to enjoy choosing what type of drink will keep them going for the rest of the day,” Daliwan adds.

The Brewed Buddies is continuously innovating their menu. Apart from their limited holiday drinks, Corona says they plan to likewise sell To Go bottles in retail.

SM Malls’ valuable support to entrepreneurs

To help even more entrepreneurs succeed in their business venture, SM recently launched The SM StartUp Package, which provides small online businesses the valuable support and opportunity they need to set up their own shop in an SM mall. This is currently available only to the first 100 digital based MSME owners, who do not have a shop inside SM or any other physical store, in general but operate a thriving online commerce site.

The exclusive package includes friendly rental rates and free use of kiosks or carts, giving the brand free exposure in SM online assets and ad spaces inside malls; financial assistance with BDO; and mentorship from SM experts on operations and marketing.

The StartUp Markets, as they will be called, will be situated in prime mall locations within 13 regional and premier malls in major cities: SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Southmall, SM Pampanga, SM Clark, SM Grand Central, SM Sta. Rosa, SM City Cebu, SM Iloilo, SM Bacolod, SM CDO Downtown Premier, and SM Lanang Premier.

To apply and be a part of The SM Startup Market in any of the above malls, visit www.smsupermalls.com or follow @smsupermalls on all their social media accounts.