AN innovator of Filipino food service whose servings are wrapped in banana leaves, Binalot Fiesta Foods Inc. vows not to raise the prices of its food offerings until the end of 2008, despite the issues of rice shortage and hoarding in the country, in an effort to empathize with its customers who have become budget-conscious in their spending.

In an interview, Binalot Fiesta president Rommel Juan told the BusinessMirror of his company’s strategies on how it can achieve such a goal while also supporting the government’s campaign to conserve rice consumption.

“It’s funny when almost everybody wants to increase its prices,” said Juan. But, he said, Binalot management chose to empathize with its customers.

“Times are hard, and we see their effect on people. To help maintain our market, Binalot’s top management decided to hold back our prices at least until the end of this year and offer ‘less rice, less price,’ instead.”

Binalot will slash P5 for every half rice served to customers starting today, Tuesday.

Although the company is never exempt from the difficulty in getting rice, Juan said Binalot Fiesta has to do its share in alleviating the country’s rice shortage.

“Our initiative is dedicated to most of our clients, who are office workers, and to diabetics, as well. I’m confident customers will respond to it favorably because they always look for a good deal in terms of price and value,” Juan explained.

Juan hopes that the company’s initiative will, in the end, redound to its benefit.

“When prices are maintained, more people will know and appreciate Binalot. We can then capture a larger market.”

Also starting today, Binalot Fiesta is offering 30-percent discount on all its food two hours before closing time on the idea that “anything that will prevent excess is good.”

“It’s one effective way to avoid spoilage and assure that we always serve our customers only the fresh and rightly prepared food,” Juan said.

The same notion of corporate caring runs through Binalot Fiesta’s operations. The company is involved in providing livelihood to communities that have banded themselves into Dahon, or Dangal At Hanapbuhay para sa Nayon. These are the people who cut the banana leaves that Binalot uses as food wrapper.

Dahon has become Binalot’s corporate social responsibility community, which has exerted efforts to help families in Southern Tagalog Region engage in banana-chips production and vegetable plantation to add more working days to their two days spent every week in cutting banana leaves.

Last week the village farmers started planting eggplant, tomato, pickled green and labuyo chili, and other vegetable varieties included in preparing pinakbet (mixed shriveled vegetables).

“We want to sustain at least the vegetable prices we need and hope rice prices will not rise by 50 percent,” Juan said.

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AN innovator of Filipino food service whose servings are wrapped in banana leaves, Binalot Fiesta Foods Inc. vows not to raise the prices of its food offerings until the end of 2008, despite the issues of rice shortage and hoarding in the country, in an effort to empathize with its customers who have become budget-conscious in their spending.