Feasibility of putting up vegan restaurant

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the business profile and general description of vegan restaurants, which fall under the consumer foodservice industry. This chapter includes the background of the study, rationale of the study, objective of the study, scope and limitation, significance of the study, research methodology, research design, and locale of the study, data gathering tool, data gathering procedure and the definition of terms.

1.1 Background of the study

Vegan was termed in England in 1944 by Donald Watson which means “non-dairy Vegetarian”. It opposed the use of eggs as a food.

Later, the definition of vegan was extended and it means that “man should live without exploiting animals". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism.)

Café is an establishment that focuses on serving coffee. It may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. “Café” is a French word which means coffee. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9.) People give extra importance when it comes to health.

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One of its reasons is the sudden existence of many diseases that threatens the lives of the people. Obviously, when we talk about health, it always entails a healthy diet. Eating Vegetables and fruits is the best thing we know how to prevent such life ominous diseases because of its vitamins and mineral content with the absence of bad cholesterol. According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a vegetarian diet is associated with lower levels of obesity and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

There are varieties of restaurants registered here in General Santos City and most of the foods offered in these restaurants are meat and animal products. To make a variation and since there is a rapid growth of health and beauty conscious people, the researchers aim to provide an exceptional and accommodative vegan restaurant with café for the people who need a place for chatting, to make transactions and other personal activities. With its extraordinary structure and location, food lovers especially vegetarians might find it a good place to unwind, socialize and experience eating in a vegan way with a Pinoy touch.

This proposed vegan restaurant will be the first vegetarian restaurant in General Santos City. Since it is vegan, it serves vegetable cuisine and plant products like beverages from fruit extracts and pasta with the recipe culture of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Italian that serves as the asset from the competitors. It also has a café that could make an edge among other restaurant. The place is a Wi-Fi hot spot and a Zen style ambiance which makes customers feel relaxed while eating or staying inside. Special room for conference meetings and other events is also offered.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The researchers will aim to determine the feasibility of putting up a vegan restaurant in San Miguel Street, General Santos City. Specifically, this study has the following objectives:

a) To present the business descriptions of the existing restaurants in terms of their:
a.1) products and services
a.2) major players in the industry
a.3) capacity of the industry
a.4) key success factors
a.5) the market
a.6) the government role

b) To conduct a structural analysis of Vegan Restaurant with café in General Santos City
b.1) Threats of Potential Entrants
b.2) Threats of Substitutes
b.3) Bargaining power of the suppliers
b.4) Bargaining power of the customers
b.5) Competition in the Industry

c) To determine the feasibility of putting up a vegan restaurant with café in General Santos City considering the following aspect:
c.1) Management and organizational;
c.2) Marketing
c.3) Technical
c.4) Financial

1.3 Specific Objectives
This refers to the specific objectives of this study which will comprise of the management organization, the technical production, the marketing aspect, the financial study, and the social significance.

1.3.1 Management and Organization

This aspect includes the form of business organization, organizational structure, personal qualifications, duties, and responsibilities and personnel salary structure.

1.3.2 Technical and Production
It deals with the equipment and facilities needed in the vegan restaurant and its operation. It also deals with the architectural design of the restaurant.

1.3.3 Marketing Aspect
It focuses on the trends, the competition, target market and the size of the market. Also it presents the design and implementation of the marketing activities of the vegan restaurant.

1.3.4 Financial Study

It determines the operating cash requirements, cash flow, the financial statements and the financial analysis; and also, it provides the viability of the project.

1.3.5 Social Significance
It focuses on the impact of the society and the economy.

1.4 Significance of the Study
The business “Greens N’ Coffee” vegan restaurant is socially significant since it would create income, development, additional leisure, and improvement and therefore, progress. Basically, vegan restaurant is an income generating activity, for the exchange of output of money, since any businesses’ concern is profitability. The following beneficiaries of the study were identified by the researchers: To the public, that they may appreciate the health benefits that will be offered by the vegan restaurant. To the Generals who are seeking for employment, they may be able to find jobs in which they can generate income to support them in their daily lives.

To the future restaurant owners who are planning to put up a vegan restaurant, that they may be able to have a new perspective on the design and strategies essential to the effectiveness, stability and productivity of the business. To the local Government of General Santos City, for they can obtain taxes and other income from this business that they can use once the study is proven feasible To the future researchers, they may be able to use this as their reference for future studies regarding on vegan restaurants.

1.5 Scope and Limitation

This study aims to determine the feasibility of putting up a vegan restaurant with café in San Miguel Street, General Santos City. The respondents of this study will only be limited to the restaurants in General Santos City. This study discusses the management and organization aspects, technical and production aspects, marketing aspects, financial study aspects and social significance aspects of the industry.

This research study will be conducted in the months of July to September 2011 within the locality of General Santos City. The researchers will choose 4 players of the restaurant industry registered at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the city. The researchers will be interviewing 4 managers or supervisors from the said members of the restaurant industry.

1.5 Research Design and Methodology

This refers to the research method, the respondents of the study, the locale of the study, the research instrument that will be used for this study, and the data gathering procedure.

1.6.1 Research Method

In this study, a descriptive method of research will be used which will deal with information that can be easily understood, while the process of this goes beyond mere gathering and tabulation of data. It involves the elements of interpretation of the meaning or significance of what is described. See figure 1 for the research flow.

1.6.2 Respondents

The respondents of this study are the managers, and assistant managers of the Grab A Crab Restaurant, Ranchero Restaurant, Taps N’ Mix, and Dimsum Diner in General Santos City.

1.6.3 Locale of the Study

This business will be located at San Miguel Street, Lagao, General Santos City. The city is the southernmost port city of the Republic of the Philippines. It is one of the most populous urban centres in the country with a population of 530,129 as per data of 2007 census (http://www.census.gov.ph/data/census2007/index.html). GenSan is bounded by municipalities of Sarangani Province namely Alabel in the East of the city, and Maasim in the South. General Santos City is a component of province South Cotabato.

1.6.4 Research Instrument

The researchers will be using a primary and a secondary instrument as a research tool in order to acquire information from the respondents. An interview guide will be used as the primary instrument. The sources of the primary data are the managers, supervisors or representatives of the restaurant in General Santos City. The interview guide which will be used to gather data from the members of the industry consists of questions regarding the management and organizational, technical, marketing and financial aspects of the restaurant industry. This type of gathering tool will most probably benefit this study. Along with this, observation will also be used to collect further information which will be helpful in conducting the study. The secondary tools that the researchers will apply are the library resources, internet data, periodicals, published and unpublished materials.

1.6.5 Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will make preliminary visitations to the location of the four (4) major players of the restaurant industry. Letters of permission will be sent to the respondents and eventually approvals are expected as a response. After a positive response, there will be a planned interview with the managers, supervisors, or representatives from the respondents. Afterwards, data will be gathered, classified and interpreted with respect to the objectives of this study.