Goolai Salads to Go is a food service with a difference – it delivers healthy, vegetarian, or semi-vegetarian meals to offices in Makati, Ortigas in Pasig City, and Eastwood in Quezon City.
Some of their specialties are:
Mixed greens with kani; mangoes, parmesan and walnuts; mixed greens with shrimp; calamari rings; fish, tofu and mandarin oranges; alfalfa sprouts and peepitas with poppyseed vinaigrette; shrimp salad; kani with egg & cucumber sandwich; and sukiyaki beef sandwich
In an interview with Entrepreneur Philippines, Lito and Adelyn Misa, the couple behind Goolai , talk of the various ways they have tried to market their meals.
They began in 2001 by distributing packed salads at their daughter’s office.
As they eyed other big offices to grow their customer base, the couple thought of putting up an online site on which they posted their daily menu and accept and confirm orders placed by e-mail.
The online system worked well for the business … initially.
They would accept orders until an indicated cut-off time: 5:00 p.m. The following day, the meals are prepared then delivered. In six years, they were catering to around 3000 customers.
But the online system broke down in time.
There were customers who would order way past the cut-off time and plead that these orders be served, anyway. Other times, the Misas would be saddled by unclaimed orders, even if they had a “no return-no exchange” policy.
“Maintaining bulk orders and door-to-door deliveries and monitoring our e-mail box became such a task,” says Lito.
In 2005, the Goolai online ordering system was discontinued.
“Fortunately, it wasn’t that hard to get the business back on the road,” according to Adelyn.
Goolai’s marketing took a different tack when the Misas started selling their salad packs at Rustan’s Fresh Supermarket outlets on consignment.
By 2011,the salads are available in more than 50 outlets nationwide, including Robinson’s Supermarkets, Petron Treats, total Gasoline Stations and Crossings supermarkets.
“We have achieved the volume even if our margins remain small,” Adelyn concludes.