Quezon City ad agency operates own coffee shop inside office

MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City office said it has its own coffee shop inside its premises that offers a familiar taste at a cheaper price. 

In an interview with Philstar.com, Manpower for Advertising Services Agency Inc. (MASA) vice president Stephene Condino said their office now has Coastal Grounds Coffee by Starbucks. 

He said the coffee shop is different from other coffee shops that bear the brand. 

“This Starbucks is more on office-based. So we worked very closely with Nestle professionals who gave us the license and opening the way for us to operate our own Starbucks. We offer it because, not for myself or the top management, but as a business star icon, it's more about giving employees the chance to experience it at a cheaper price,” he said.  

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Condino said that coffee price in their office is around 30 to 40% cheaper compared to any regular Starbucks out there. 

“But the beans and the experience and the taste remains to be the same,” he said.  

When asked how it was possible to have the brand in their office, Condino said they met certain criteria. 

“We're the first inside the office. So what happens was mayroon kasi tayong tinatawag na criteria for you to, to open a cafe, most importantly, if it's Starbucks. Now, given that the first criteria that we actually met is we there has to be at least 500 employees in the office. So you can see that we have 500 employees in the office.

“Number two is there has to be at least three kilometers away from the nearest one. So if there is one two blocks away from here, we can't open here because there will be competition.

"Number three is there is a specific target. So even if we have our own Starbucks by Coastal Grounds, if you cannot hit that target number of cups per day, hindi ka pa rin pwedeng mag-open.” 

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Condino is also the president and chief executive officer of Wodd Eye Wear Retailing (Wodd PH), founded in 2019.

From its early days, Wodd offers wood and bamboo-centric products, all while saying no to plastic.

“These are locally made, handcrafted at 'yung bamboo floats on water. 'Pag