Everything started with a hunt for a well-seasoned but reasonably priced sandwich at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.
Over 10 years ago, Miguel de la Peña and Jed Nacabuan ended their search without their desired snack, but came across a tasty idea: Since there were no burgers around the area, why not start cooking and selling their own?
“Without much planning, we opened the shop,” said de la Peña, son of Science Secretary Fortunato de la Peña.
The two freelance artists from UP Fine Arts decided to spend their earnings from a recent commissioned artwork to rent a space at Area 2 in the UP Diliman campus. With a small dining table, de la Peña and Nacabuan, started to grill beef patties over charcoals in 2012. They named their store “The Snack Shack.”
Riding to the market
Nacabuan recalled going to Tandang Sora on their mountain bikes to buy the burger ingredients, storing items on their backpacks, and pedaling their way back to the shop in UP.
They only bought 3 kilos of ground beef for the opening, he said. The burgers sold out quick and they had to buy another 3 kilos as customers came in droves.
In just four months, they had to tap a meat supplier to accommodate demand. Soon after, Miguel’s brother, Tito, joined the fold.
The Snack Shack expanded to Maginhawa in January 2013 with their second shop, which was eventually transferred to Sikatuna. They also started made the switch from charcoal to LPG to grill patties and hired employees.
“We did not expect the demand for our burger would grow,” Nacabuan said.
The early customers of The Snack Shack were UP students, just how Nacabuan envisioned. But as they expanded outside the confines of the campus, the business became more popular to the general public as all walks of life began to queue at the shop.
In 2014, Snack Shack opened its third branch in Marikina. Meanwhile, its first store was transferred from Area 2 to the UP Epsilon Chi Center, across Bahay Alumni, while expanding its menu to sausages, chicken wings and fries.
To ensure product freshness and quality, Snack Shack orders beef, vegetables, buns, sausages, and other items on a daily basis.
900 burgers per day
Nacabuan said that The Snack Shack’s three shops can produce around 900 burgers per day. He puts the total figure of ground beef that the store has turned to burgers at 215 kilos.
In August, Snack Shack celebrated its 10th year anniversary. As a way to give back to customers, management ran a special promo wherein the price of the burgers was returned to its original amount of P55.
“That’s one way of showing our gratitude,” Nacabuan said, adding that they sell out their burgers before six in the evening during the annual special promotion. “Some burger lovers even queue for nearly two hours just to avail at the original price.”
Nacabuan and de la Peña could not help but look back with joy at the times when they went to the market in the morning to refill their inventory. Aboard their mountain bikes, they carried kilos of ground beef in their backpacks, with burger buns in front.
“Our burgers sold out almost every day,” he said. “But we almost did not make any profit.”
Costing and expansion
The reason for the lack of profit, Miguel said, was costing. They addressed the issue by making small price increases over a seven-year span.
“As much as possible, we try to avoid any increase in one whole year,” Nacabuan said. “But when the price of ingredients for burgers increases, we tell our customers of the need to adjust our price.”
After resolving costing, they turned their focus on product quality. The Snack Shack ensures that they only use fresh ingredients, without using frozen meat.
“Our beef is fresh every day,” Miguel said.
Nacabuan takes competition among burger makers positively. He said it is always for the good, as competition holds players accountable in offering only the best products to the market.
According to Miguel, they run the business intuitively. They currently don’t have any long-term plans, as they simply face opportunities when it knocks on the door.
“So far, our approach is working,” he said, adding the mindset relieves them of the pressure of expansion or achieving a target revenue for a particular year. “We just focus on quality.”
The owners said they are already looking for locations for a fourth The Snack Shack branch.