FAVORITE STREET FOOD BUSINESSES AMONG FILIPINO PEOPLE
A Research Paper presented to the Research Department of La Immaculada
Concepcion School
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the course ABM.
Researchers:
LEOMO, XYRUS VAN BERNARD R.
PASUELO, DOMIEL
Of 12 – ABM - Isaac Newton
August 2022
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First and foremost, we, the researchers, would like to express our gratitude to the
individual who made this research possible. We would like to express our heartfelt
gratitude to Mr. Joeny Jalbo, Research teacher, who has guided, suggested, and
continuously supported us throughout our journey. This research would not be where it
is today if it weren't for him. Also, thank you to our family, friends, and fellow study
participants for providing us with the motivation and encouragement to complete this
paper with full hope and dedication. The lessons learned from these events brought us
closer together and will be remembered for a lifetime. All of this would not be completed
within the time frame given if they didn't have each other's company. As a result, all of
the decisions and hard work that had been put in became a major factor in the
successful completion of this study. Above all, thanks to God Almighty for providing the
members of this study with the knowledge, perseverance, and confidence to see it
through to the end.
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ABSTRACT
Street foods play an important socioeconomic role in meeting food and nutritional
requirements of city consumers at affordable prices to the lower- and middle-income
people. The number of food poisoning notifications rose steadily worldwide. This may
be partly attributed to improved surveillance, increased global trade and travel, changes
in modern food production, the impact of modern lifestyles, changes in food
consumption, and the emergence of new pathogens. Consumer knowledge and attitude
may influence food safety behavior and practice. For the sake of public health, it is
important to understand the epidemiology of food-borne illnesses that help in prevention
and control efforts, appropriately allocating resources to control food-borne illness,
monitoring and evaluation of food safety measures, development of new food safety
standards, and assessment of the cost-effectiveness of interventions. For the method,
we used a questionnaire as a way of getting information. Its advantage is we can get
information from a large number of people who may not have the time to attend an
interview or take part in experiments. It enables people to take their time, think about it,
and come back to the questionnaire later. So, our participants are teenagers, since they
are the common buyer, they are fit for the questions we are going to ask. This review
paper described the socio-demographic characteristics, common hazards, and
occupational hazards of street food vendors, microbial risk associated with street food,
food safety interventions, and control measures, regulatory aspects and legal
requirements, financial constraints, and attitudes.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page……………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Acknowledgment……………………………………………………………………… 2
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………. 4
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………… 5
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………………… 7
Objectives of the study…………………………………………………………………. 7
Scopes and Delimitations……………………………………………………………… 7
Definition of Terms……………………………………………………………………… 8
Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………………… 10
Significance of the Study………………………………………………………………. 10
Review of Related Literature………………………………………………………….. 11
Review of Related Studies…………………………………………………………….. 12
Background of the Study………………………………………………………………. 13
Research Respondents ………………………………………………………………….15
Survey Questionnaires………………………………………………………………… 15
Survey Data…………………………………………………………………………….. 16
Conclusion And Recommendations………………………………………………….. 17
References……………………………………………………………………………… 18
Letter Of Permission……………………………………………………………………. 19
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INTRODUCTION
The Philippines has a long, convoluted history. Many islands in the Western
Pacific Ocean have few things in common, but their Filipino street food history is one of
them. The scattered islands have always been important for trade. Muslims, Indians,
Chinese, and Arabs left their mark in the region, permeating the islands with traditions,
ingredients, and preparations through business.
Neighboring countries such as Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia have
played a part in shaping the Philippines culture too, but the most significant event came
in 1521, with the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. Ferdinand Magellan was a
Portuguese explorer who organized the Spanish expedition to the East. After the
Spanish came the Americans, who added their eating preferences to the mix. Waves of
Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese migrants have all contributed to the immensely
varied food here. And the amazing number of visitors in the late 20th century and 21st,
from every corner of the world, have made food vendors adapt to adding western dishes
on their menus. The history of Filipino street food is not one thing, but many. It is always
authentic but can often be traced back to the dozen foreign influences that have shaped
the country’s history.
In addition, street foods are expanding to function as a tourism resource with the
characteristics of a specific region or a country. Street food culture took its root deep
and evolved into a tourism resource, resulting in street food enterprises growing in scale
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large enough to form a market on their own. Most of the other countries viewed street
food as a simple snack and considered it as a subject without merit for study.
Street foods back then were an important source of affordable and ready-to-eat
food available to everyone. In particular, the economic crisis in the Philippines reduced
household food spending and expanded the street food industry as a new income
source for unemployed and undergraduate citizens.
Since these street foods are affordable yet accessible and approachable by the
common people, while being unique and ingenious, they have the added benefit that not
only the people from the country of origin but also the foreigners with a variety of
nationalities and races can try them easily without reluctance since it also represents
the originality of Filipinos culture when it comes to their daily lives.
For the sake of public health, it is important to understand the epidemiology of
food-borne illnesses because it will help in prevention and control efforts, appropriately
allocating resources to control food-borne illness, monitoring, and evaluation of food
safety measures, development of new food safety standards, and assessment of the
cost-effectiveness of interventions. The purpose of this study is to see the microbial risk
of food poisoning associated with street food in order to determine the magnitude of the
problem, risk factors, monitoring and surveillance, and measures of control.
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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1. Street food satisfies Filipino's appetite.
2. Street Vending is considered an illegal profession due to its quality being
questionable.
3. Street food is prone to spreading contagious disease that contributes to threats to
public health and safety.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. Street foods are enough nourishment for Filipino.
2. The lawfulness of street vendors as long as the quality of their goods is clean and
doesn't bring harm to their customers.
3. To prevent contagious disease by ensuring that their goods and services are safe.
SCOPES AND DELIMITATIONS
The scope of this research will be the students of SHS at La Immaculada
Concepcion School and a few from other schools, with a focus on favorite street food
businesses.
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DEFINITION OF TERMS
The following terms were defined according to the purpose of the study to make them
clearer to the readers:
Socioeconomic - the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is
shaped by social processes.
Street Food - prepared or cooked food sold by vendors in a street or other public
location for immediate consumption.
Nutritional - relating to the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for
health and growth.
Food poisoning – an illness caused by bacteria or other toxins in food, typically with
vomiting and diarrhea.
Customer's Satisfaction - it is a measurement that determines how happy customers
are with a company's products, services, and capabilities.
Pathogens - an organism that causes disease.
Epidemiology - the branch of medicine that deals with the incidence, distribution, and
possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health.
Food-borne - an illness caused by eating foods that have harmful organisms in them.
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Socio-demographic - relating to, or involving a combination of social and demographic
factors.
Occupational hazards - are risks associated with working in specific occupations.
Livelihood - a means of securing the necessities of life.
Economic crisis - economy of a country experiences a sudden downturn in its
aggregate output or real gross domestic product
Unique - being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.
Reluctance - unwillingness or disinclination to do something.
Portable food - capable of being carried.
Non-nutritional - not providing nourishment non-nutritive sweeteners pacifiers used for
non-nutritive sucking.
Unlicensed - not authorized or permitted by a license unlicensed merchandise an
unlicensed firearm the unlicensed reproduction of books.
Hygienic - conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially by being
clean; sanitary.
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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research aims to provide information that can help researchers to identify what are
the possible solutions to improve the quality of street food by investigating the
importance and the satisfaction of customers regarding street food sanitation and
choice factor and providing the measures for management and improvement of street
foods. It also includes how it affects the vendor’s daily livelihood and customers’ daily
wants of affordable yet satisfying goods.
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Vendors congregating on the sidewalks were notoriously known as eyesores and
impediments, according to Golosino (2012). "A good city," Senator Santiago stated,
echoing Mayor Pealosa, "is one with great walkways." From the standpoint of the
pedestrian, sidewalks in the Philippines, particularly in urban areas, have lost their
meaning. It was planned to be a meeting spot for individuals who wanted to make up
time and escape traffic by walking. Instead, the sidewalks were turned into a makeshift
market. Pedestrians resort to walking on the road as a last resort, putting themselves in
greater danger and adding to traffic congestion.
In a metropolis like Manila, where even the cheapest fast-food meals may feel
like a luxury for many office employees, Aurora Almendral (2014) believes that informal
booths with little overhead and cheap items, such as one of the street vendors she
knows, serve a need and help the city function more smoothly. Despite the fact that
Manila relies on its vendors, it frequently mistreats them, imposing onerous restrictions
and restricting how they utilize the public area that serves as their marketplace. Vendors
in the city's community have learned how to navigate and enliven these places after
years of selling on the streets and in alleyways.
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REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
Sharit K. Bhowmik remarked in a journal paper that street vendors are primarily
persons who have been unable or unable to obtain conventional employment. This
segment of the urban poor, on the other hand, strives to tackle their problems with their
limited resources. They do not demand that the government generate jobs for them, nor
do they engage in begging, thieving, or extortion, as do other parts of the urban
population. They labor hard in order to live a life of dignity and self-respect.
Furthermore, street vendors lack access to institutional financing, relying instead on
their personal savings and loans from friends and relatives. Because the majority of
street vendors do not form groups, they are unable to pool their resources through
revolving savings.
According to Harlan Dimas (2008), the informal sector, of which street vending is
a part, is a vessel that accommodates labor that is unemployed in the urban formal
sector. As a result, it is less of a problem and more of a solution. People's perceptions
of the informal sector, in general, need to be revised. In the eyes of overcrowded
metropolitan road users and pedestrians crammed onto sidewalks/pavements, street
vendors have a poor image. As a result, most people support attempts by local
governments to remove them from the streets. Repressive municipal policies toward
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street vendors (PKL), combined with the deployment of the Admin Police (Satpol PP),
have proven to be ineffective.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
As the world learns more than ever before, street food in the Philippines plays an
important role in shaping the lives of all people. Some well-known street food examples
include (Isaw, Betamax, Fish Balls, and so on), and the locations where they operate
are more complex in terms of cleanliness and safety. These factors make a significant
contribution and have aided in shaping and influencing human behavior and attitudes
toward local food.
Teenagers are among the first generation to have grown up entirely surrounded
by various types of street food. Aside from that, consumers and vendors develop a new
perspective, recognizing opportunities that can potentially be incorporated into our
culture and referring to them as trends.
We, as Grade 12 students of LICS, are the people in the period between
childhood and maturity who are most likely to advocate for street food and, as a result,
are the group of people most likely to be aware of what is going on. We are one of the
reasons why street food continues to develop standards and create figures and patterns
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that change people's perceptions of street food in society, resulting in both positive and
negative approaches to real-life issues.
Because the majority of their customers are people in the public, particularly
students, workers, and locals, street food businesses have been forced to close and
cease operations as a result of the pandemic. To at least give vendors a chance to
continue their daily livelihood by serving and satisfying Filipinos with street food, safety,
and health protocols is becoming looser while maintaining constant social distancing.
Thus, we will carry out this research on street food that has created a culture of
perfection by distributing survey questionnaires to our fellow students from LICS of
Grade 12 Department about how it becomes convenient and how much they are
satisfied when they consume these creative, with unrealistic expectations and
perceptions on food that becomes noticeable when people enjoy it more.
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RESEARCH RESPONDENTS
The study was conducted in La Immaculada Concepcion School. The
researchers distributed the survey questionnaires to the randomly selected Senior High
School students of LICS.
The population of Senior High School in LICS was divided into subgroups, mainly
Grade 11 and Grade 12. A total of 50 respondents were chosen randomly regardless of
their strands.
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES
FAVORITE STREET FOOD BUSINESSES AMONG FILIPINO PEOPLE
(5 is strongly agreed, 4 is agreed, 3 is neutral, 2 disagrees, and 1 strongly disagrees.)
1. The store is accessibly located. 1 2 3 4 5
2. Food on the menu is available. 1 2 3 4 5
3. The convenience of store hours. 1 2 3 4 5
4. Affordability of prices. 1 2 3 4 5
5. Food is worth its prices. 1 2 3 4 5
6. Store ambiance and ornament are appealing. 1 2 3 4 5
7. The quality of food is excellent. 1 2 3 4 5
8. Customer service is excellent. 1 2 3 4 5
9. Vendors are approachable and open to new ideas. 1 2 3 4 5
10. Order is served on time and complete. 1 2 3 4 5
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SURVEY DATA
Favorite Street Food Businesses Among Filipino People
30
15
0
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 1: The result of the survey
Questions 1 2 3 4 5 Total
The store is accessibly located 0 0 9 17 24 50
Food on the menu is available 0 0 7 15 28 50
The convenience of store hours 0 0 9 17 24 50
Affordability of prices 0 0 7 15 28 50
Food is worth its prices 0 0 4 19 27 50
Store ambiance and ornament are appealing 0 3 21 16 10 50
The quality of food is excellent 0 0 6 17 27 50
Customer service is excellent 0 0 4 16 30 50
Vendors are approachable and open to new ideas 0 0 6 18 26 50
Order is served on time and complete 0 0 9 15 26 50
Table 1: Survey Data
Questions Ranking
Customer service is excellent 1st
Food is worth its prices 2nd
Food on the menu is available
Affordability of prices
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The quality of food is excellent 3rd
Vendors are approachable and open to new 4th
ideas
Order is served on time and complete 5th
The store is accessibly located 6th
The convenience of store hours
Store ambiance and ornament are appealing 7th
Table 1.1: Ranking of questions based on the weighted mean.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
Based on our findings from the study, we came to the conclusion that students
prefer street foods with excellent service, which is why it was ranked first. When Filipino
Street food trends become popular and are talked about by people around them,
teenagers and most people become aware of them. As a result, if something isn't
prominent or well-known, it won't be known. The main reason people eat street food is
that it is much cheaper than fast-food chains and restaurants, allowing many
backpackers on a budget to save money. Aside from that, the food isn't dumbed down
like it is in hotel restaurants; it's what locals eat, and you typically interact with them by
sitting on a low-slung plastic stool at a communal table. The proximity of street food
encourages social interaction. Finally, street food is not only convenient for many
people, but it is also a source of income for millions of low-income people, contributing
significantly to the economies of many developing countries.
RECOMMENDATION
Future researchers should conduct this study with a larger sample size. Because
the results of this study are based solely on responses from Senior High School
students at La Immaculada Concepcion School, future researchers may try to include
outsiders who have been proven to be fans of street food businesses, as well as
students from various grade levels and schools, in order to obtain more credible and
reliable information about how much street food provides them satisfaction in terms of
price, affordability, and convenience. Also, if they want to cover and answer all possible
questions, they can consider sending out survey questionnaires to customers based on
their age, gender, religion, ethnicity, and social class, as these factors will have a
significant impact on what people think about street food businesses. Future
researchers may wish to continue this research for future purposes, as it will provide
them with more information on how to deal with customer satisfaction in food
establishments.
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Chapter_1_PROBLEM_AND_ITS_BACKGROUND
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LETTER OF PERMISSION
January 25, 2022
La Immaculada Concepcion School
E. Caruncho Ave., Malinao
Pasig City
Dear Sir/ Madam:
Warmest greetings!
We would like to ask permission to allow us to conduct a survey from your students
(Senior High School students) starting on January 27, 2022 until January 30, 2022
(Wednesday to Saturday). This is in view of our thesis, entitled FAVORITE STREET
FOOD BUSINESSES AMONG FILIPINO PEOPLE
The survey would last only about 1-2 minutes and would arrange at a time convenient to
the teacher’s schedule. All information provided by the respondents will be used only for
academic purposes and will be kept in utmost confidentiality. The names of the
respondents will be excluded in the thesis unless it is necessary.
Your approval to conduct this survey will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God
bless.
Sincerely yours,
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Leomo, Xyrus Van Bernard R. Pasuelo, Cyrus Domiel
Noted by:
Joeny Jalbo
Research Advisor:
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