Permanent food fix daily at The Market
From having just weekends to look forward to, foodies now have a place to go when they’re in the mood to try new dishes during weekdays.
Sugbo Mercado is soft-opening its daily food bazaar this month. Located at the Mandaue North Reclamation Area beside MO2, The Market by Sugbo Mercado promises to treat Cebuanos to a new kind of dining experience while showcasing Cebuano foodies’ entrepreneurial spirit.
The Market is a 3,000-square-meter food market, using recycled cargo containers, that will be exclusive to 25 tenants. It is a food bazaar open from Tuesday until Sunday, from 5 p.m to 1 a.m.
“We want to reinforce our advocacy in bringing up the entrepreneurial spirit of Cebuanos,” said Sugbo Mercado Food Bazaar Inc. (SMFBI) managing director John Paul Chiongbian.
“We aim to create the next best local food brands for Cebu,” he added.
The food bazaar will also have a coffee shop and a co-working space for rent on the second floor.
SMFBI’s creation of The Market is part of the company’s expansion plan following the success of its flagship project Sugbo Mercado in the Garden Bloc of Cebu IT Park, which generates an average foot traffic of 5,000 customers per night.
Sugbo Mercado logs average gross sales of up to P1.5 million per night from its 65 tenants. The weekend food bazaar operates every Thursday to Sunday.
The Market’s grand launch is slated for July.
Michael Karlo Lim, SMFBI’s marketing and communications director, said The Market aims to inspire more Cebuanos to get into business. He said this can be their venue to test their products on consumers.
He noted tenants at The Market will be a mix of old and new favorites. Some, he said, are graduates of the Subgo Mercado weekend bazaar.
Looking ahead, SMFBI may bring this food bazaar concept to other key cities in the country like Dumaguete and Iloilo. They also plan to bring this model to Manila next year. To make the new dining destination engaging, the team has thought of mounting activities like trivia night, spoken poetry, band performances, and other forms of art to make every night interactive.