In western marketing, the first thing you do when developing a product, is to determine who is buying it already, and who else might buy it if you talk to them the right way. This has proven exceptionally difficult here, because there are no official means of finding out. To determine if a local business is doing well, after help is given by the local government, they are simply asked. Naturally, there are no focus groups, blind taste tests, or direct mail questionnaires to be found. Upon suggestion by my liaison at Emily Carr, I went to the market to see if I could guage for myself, just exactly who was buying the cashews.
An American friend I have made here absolutely loves cashews. He told me that he went to the market the other day, excited to buy some, but left with none because he was confused as to which was which, with no indication of quality or where they were made. To make matters worse, there are several areas at the local market where cashews are sold, which are difficult to find without knowing where to look. I stopped by the San Jose area, where unlike many of the other sellers, they are sorting and bagging the cashews fresh on the spot. Ironically, the nice lady with the stall across the small aisle from them, is selling cashews with her own label that she buys directly from the Princesa stall. Sharing the wealth I suppose. After asking some more questions and buying some cashews, I asked if it would be alright if I returned the next day.
When I did return, Mrs. Angeles who is the proprietor of Princesa Cashews from San Jose was there herself, while it had been her daughter the day before. She clearly made the appearance because she knew I would be there. It was fascinating to watch the bagging process, but customers were lacking. This is the slowest time of year, and they go many days with no customers at all. I did find out though, that around 70% of their sales go to private orders, including the NCCC and NC Roberts grocery stores. The majority of the rest are sold to visitors to Puerto Princesa, mostly from other parts of the Philippines, who take the cashews back home for Pasalubong.
Pasalubong is a Filipino term, which basically translates to "meeting when returning from a far place", and it is customary her to give some token for this purpose. During the several hours I stayed in the cramped aisle, asking questions and generally taking up space, Mrs. Angles finally had two customers. I asked her to ask them where they were from, but she shyly declined, but agreed to allow me. I introduced myself and explained what I was doing. The two women were, as expected, from Manila and were buying cashews for Pasalubong. They reluctantly allowed me to take a photo, and I had the feeling they were the customers for the day. I also had the feeling that having a large white guy with a camera, taking up most of the space around the stall may have been driving off business. Regardless, it seemed pretty clear that this was their general audience, with or without a survey. (see more photos)
An American friend I have made here absolutely loves cashews. He told me that he went to the market the other day, excited to buy some, but left with none because he was confused as to which was which, with no indication of quality or where they were made. To make matters worse, there are several areas at the local market where cashews are sold, which are difficult to find without knowing where to look. I stopped by the San Jose area, where unlike many of the other sellers, they are sorting and bagging the cashews fresh on the spot. Ironically, the nice lady with the stall across the small aisle from them, is selling cashews with her own label that she buys directly from the Princesa stall. Sharing the wealth I suppose. After asking some more questions and buying some cashews, I asked if it would be alright if I returned the next day.
When I did return, Mrs. Angeles who is the proprietor of Princesa Cashews from San Jose was there herself, while it had been her daughter the day before. She clearly made the appearance because she knew I would be there. It was fascinating to watch the bagging process, but customers were lacking. This is the slowest time of year, and they go many days with no customers at all. I did find out though, that around 70% of their sales go to private orders, including the NCCC and NC Roberts grocery stores. The majority of the rest are sold to visitors to Puerto Princesa, mostly from other parts of the Philippines, who take the cashews back home for Pasalubong.
Pasalubong is a Filipino term, which basically translates to "meeting when returning from a far place", and it is customary her to give some token for this purpose. During the several hours I stayed in the cramped aisle, asking questions and generally taking up space, Mrs. Angles finally had two customers. I asked her to ask them where they were from, but she shyly declined, but agreed to allow me. I introduced myself and explained what I was doing. The two women were, as expected, from Manila and were buying cashews for Pasalubong. They reluctantly allowed me to take a photo, and I had the feeling they were the customers for the day. I also had the feeling that having a large white guy with a camera, taking up most of the space around the stall may have been driving off business. Regardless, it seemed pretty clear that this was their general audience, with or without a survey. (see more photos)
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