EVALUATION ON MARKETING STRATEGIES IN SELECTED FOOD SME IN GENERAL SANTOS CITY

This study was conducted in General Santos City from October to November 2021 to evaluate the different marketing strategies implemented by the different SMEs in General Santos City in the light of Covid-19.The specific objectives of the study are to determine the socio demographic characteristics of the owner, organizational structure, capitalization and source of capital, institutional support, basis for the formulation of their marketing and coping strategies during the pandemic, performance of the SMEs and to give policy recommendations. The respondents were the owners and/or manager of the fast-food, restaurants, food kiosks and other food businesses. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

The socio-demographic profile revealed that majority of the owner and/or managers' population who engaged in food SMEs belonged in the age bracket of 20- 30. In terms of gender distribution, the results showed that majority or 29 of them were females while the remaining 16 were males. As for their educational attainment majority of them were college graduate or in a tertiary level. Food SMEs in General Santos City were able to survived the pandemic through their coping and marketing strategies such as food delivery tie up with affordable food triangle, affordable hot meals, the use of social media platforms for promotional activities, reduced food production and bundle promotions, and finally by promoting high GP items but low in food cost. However, while most food SMEs did not receive institutional support, but with their competitive advantages, they were able to calibrate profitability and marketing performance to continue operating their business amidst the pandemic.