THE Sundry Food Hall opened last month in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), but more than its numerous food options, the logic behind the operations makes for a more interesting story. It not only took the food hall out of the usual mall location, but also tailor fit its options depending on location. And aside from dining in, customers have the option to order from a variety of restaurants through delivery partners at one go.

The BGC branch, in GSC Corporate Tower, Triangle Drive, BGC, is the concept’s seventh: the others are in España, Taft, Pasig, Commonwealth, Makati, and Parañaque. This branch contains CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice, 24 Chicken, Wann Mann, Bangkok Station, Potato Corner, Big Al’s Cookie Jar, Hearts & Bells, Merry Moo and Louie’s Buko.

The Sundry Food Hall concept was founded by husband-and-wife team Jai Reyes and Josephine Kamiyama as a cloud kitchen during the pandemic. Then since 2024, they pivoted most of the cloud-kitchen branches to dine-in operations.

Each Sundry Food Hall location has a different set of restaurant partners. “We rely a lot on the data, per area, [for] who we think is going to do well,” Mr. Reyes told BusinessWorld. “I guess we learned through experience also. One branch of the same brand doesn’t perform as well in the other branch. We get a lot of data from Grab and Foodpanda. In a particular area or radius, we get their help in suggesting to us what type of cuisines are being searched for.”

The concept is a boon for customers: “You get to eat in a place where you can have various options,” he said. “You can really order from different brands in just one sitting.

“We kind of took the food hall out of the mall, because the delivery numbers do better when we’re right by the roadside with a dispatch window. That’s a huge advantage for our tenants,” he said.

They provide the space and the common area staff. The tenants simply set up their kitchens and provide a kitchen crew. “Lower investment, and faster expansion. That’s what we tell our tenants. We provide the space, where all they need to do is put equipment, and bring their staff.”

At the same time, customers can order from multiple restaurants and pay just one delivery fee.

They are also moving down south, with planned expansions in Alabang and Santa Rosa. In line with the “faster expansion” selling point to their tenants, the move down south, according to him, is so that their tenants can have a footprint south of Manila.

On another note, those who still remember Jai Reyes as the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles basketball player in the 2000s will be pleased to know that he now serves as commissioner for the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the league he once played in.

Asked about his own transition from basketball to business, he said, “All athletes someday get told that it’s time to hang it up,” he said. “I was scared, but just like sports, you just do your work. Apply it, learn from your mistakes, and then move on again.” — J. L. Garcia