ILOCOS SUR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL – SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1

Chapter I

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

A visit to Vigan will not be complete without tasting its famous Vigan

empanada. You can choose to sample this tasty delight in the food

establishments that dot the city or the empanada stalls in the market and

plazas. It is great whether as breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks. At around

thirty-five pesos each, it’s quite cheap to have as many as you need to fill your

hunger after touring the city. The Vigan empanada is much in keeping with the

Vigan people’s love for vegetables in their cuisine.

It is similar to a thin taco that is fried to a crisp, with vegetable and meat

filling. Rice flour is used for making the crust or the shell. The galapong or rice

flour dough is made a day before it is used. Atchuete or orange food color, salt

and oil are mixed into the rice though. The dough mixture is then kneaded as

thinly as possible on a banana leaf (wax paper is a good substitute). Vigan

empanada’s vegetable filling is made up of green papaya that is grated, toge

or mung bean sprouts, monggo or mung bean and shredded carrots. Its meat

filing consists of whole egg and skinless Vigan longganisa. The double special

Vigan empanada has two servings of the meat filling. For the health buff,

Vigan empanada sans the longganisa is also available.

Dining places in Vigan have made variations to the traditional Vigan

empanada with some mixing modern-day ingredients like minced hotdog in the
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filling. Whatever variety Vigan visitors and culinary adventurers might try, they

will all have their Vigan empanadas served hot with pure Ilocos vinegar

containing onions, ground black pepper and chili. For those who would like to

try cooking this Vigan delicacy in their homes, they need to make sure they

have the abovementioned ingredients. Chayote can be used as substitute for

green papaya.

Cooks can also prepare the rice flour dough using the basic technique

for pie crust. After heating a small amount of oil, the garlic must be sautéed

first followed by the prepared vegetables. Drain the vegetable filling of excess

oil. The ingredients are then ready for assembling. Put in two or three spoonful

of vegetable fillings in the flattened rice flour dough. Add in a couple spoonfuls

of skinless longganisa and a fresh egg before folding and closing the dough,

forming a crescent shape. Fry it in hot oil and then drain the crispy empanada

in paper napkin to get rid of excess oil.

Statement of the Problem

Vigan City is one of the City here in Ilocos Sur and it is known as one of

the Seven Wonders City of the World. Tourists are visiting Vigan City because

of the heritage site and tourist spots, the culture and also their delicious

delicacies like the Vigan Empanada.

Vigan Empanada is one of the famous delicacies here in Vigan City.

This delicacy is only thirty five pesos and it is affordable. It contains many
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vegetables in it and it is coated in a very thin like taco with meat filling in it.

These Vigan Empanada are being sold and marketed in every stall beside the

Vigan Streets and also near the Calle Crisologo.

Marketing strategy is a long term forward-looking approach to planning

with the fundamental goal of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.

Strategic planning involves an analysis of the store’s strategic initial situation

prior to the formulation, evaluation and selection of market-oriented

competitive position that contributes to the store’s goals and marketing

objectives.

Despite of those, we, researchers were curious and wanted to know

how do they make Empanada and what strategies that empanada vendors

doing to market and sell the Vigan Empanada to the tourists and the Bigueños.

Research Questions

Generally, the researcher aimed to determine the Production and

Marketing Strategies of Empanada Vendors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

Specifically, it aimed to answer the following questions:

1. How the Empanada vendors do influenced and persuade the

costumers to buy Vigan Empanada?

2. How are these Empanada being produced?

3. To what extent that the Vigan Empanada are being marketed?

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4. How do these marketing strategies affect the empanada business?

Significance of the Study

The purpose of the study is to know the Production and Marketing

Strategies of Empanada Vendors and to know how Empanadas are being

produced and marketed in the marketing industry. This study also aims to

know how effective the strategies of the Empanada Vendors in the market.

This study also aims to know if this Marketing Strategies are a good

strategy. This will also benefit those who are planning to put up an Empanada

business and to have an effective business planning.

Scope and Delimitation

The study was limited on Production and Marketing Strategies of

Empanada Vendors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur. This study was conducted at

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur on February 2019.

The respondents will be the owners and employees of all the

Empanada stalls and 10 respondents from the owners and employees of

Empanada stalls in Vigan City.

Operational Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined as they will be used in this study:

(Alphabetically arranged)
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Empanada. A delicacy in the City of Vigan that is covered with thin

crispy like taco with meat and vegetables filling in it.

Marketing. It is the study and management of exchange relationships.

Marketing Strategy. A plan of action designed to promote and sell a

product or service.

Production. The action of making or manufacturing from components

or raw materials, or the process of being so manufactured

Related Literature and Studies

This review of related literature and studies are relevant to the current

or past researches covering the importance and marketing plan or marketing

strategies for empanada.

According to the Business Victoria Government, states that an effective

marketing strategy will help to define the overall direction and goals for

marketing. The strategy should be articulate on how the products or services

in ways that will satisfy the target market. After defining the customers, it must

needed to start developing and implementing ways to reach them.

Same through with Jorge L. Pichardo (2011), says that designing a

product will be difficult with heavy investments of time and capital but still

remains a small portion of the entire dream. It is also important to plan ahead
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in regards to how this product will meet the consumers. The concept of

marketing may seem like a simple process, “business success using a simple

process of understanding and meeting customers’ needs and wants”. One tool

to use in order to ensure product to consumer success is a marketing strategy

by providing the marketing team a detailed guide ensuring productivity and

goal oriented decision making. There are a lot of pieces and variables to

creating a viable working marketing plan. Marketing professionals are

equipped with the tools and knowledge to effectively navigate the real world

challenges that come with convincing consumers that their products are

needed. Strategic planning process includes conducting a situation analysis,

generating a mission statement, objectives, value proposition and strategies.

These helps an organization allocate resources taking various market

conditions in to account while still meeting.

Food pricing strategies by Katie Jensen, pricing decisions are among

the most important you will make as a small business. Price your food product

too low and you’re leaving money on the table. Price is too high and it won’t

sell at volume high enough to cover your costs, let alone turn a profit.

Developing the right pricing strategy is especially important in the food

business, where many items are perishable and will spoil if you don’t price

them to sell.

A marketing plan is the key to business, its purpose is to maximize the

business profits. As opportunities crop up or the business environment

changes, the objective and marketing strategies in the plan will aim toward the
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best action. The marketing plan and the strategic marketing plan fit together in

that both are essential for the success a business. Without a strategic

marketing plan, business can become uncertain in marketing efforts. The

purpose of the strategic marketing plan is to help business reach their

marketing goals. The marketing plan should be a comprehensible, succinct

and well thought out document that serves as a guide through the marketing

program. It should focus on the objective of the marketing and the intent to

carry out that objective. There are six major elements to creating a successful

benefits to the product or service, positioning, marketing tactics and marketing

budget. The marketing plans purpose may seem apparent, but by putting it up

front and in writing, the business will stay focused on its intent. Many business

think their marketing plan is about increased exposure, getting press, writing

cool ads, and the like. These are not purposes, they are devices. The end

result of any of these is to increase profits.

According to Tony Proctor, a strategy is a plan that integrates an

organization’s major goals, policies, decisions and sequences of action into a

cohesive whole. It can be applied at all levels in an organization and pertain to

any of the functional areas of management. Thus there may be production,

financial marketing, personnel and corporate strategies, just to name a few. In

marketing, there may be pricing, product, promotion, distribution, marketing

research, sales, advertising, merchandising, etc. strategies. Strategy is

concerned with effectiveness rather than efficiency and is the process of

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analyzing the environment and designing the fit between the organization, its

resources and objectives and the environment.

Michael Porter states that strategy is about the means or ways (steps)

of attaining goals and not their specification. He also indicates that strategy is

one element in a four-part structure. According to Porter, those four part

structures are: (a) what are the goals to be attained? (b) How will the

resources be deployed? (c) The tactics; i.e. the ways in which resources that

have been deployed are actually used or employed and (d) are the resources

(means) themselves available and at our disposal? Both strategy and tactics

bridge the gap between goals and means. In business, as in the military,

strategy bridges the gap between policy and tactics. It is the creation of a

unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities. Meaning

strategy is about competitive position, about differentiating 9 yourself in the

eyes of the customer, about adding value through a mix of activities different

from those used by competitors.

Subhash C. Jain went further to highlight 5 reasons why an

organization needs strategy. He stipulated that any organization needs

strategy (a) when resources are finite, (b) when there is uncertainty about

competitive strengths and behavior, (c) when commitment of resources is

irreversible, (d) when decisions must be coordinated between far-flung places

and over time, and (e) when there is uncertainty about control of the initiative.

[6] As have been stated above, it can be seen that strategy is vital to the

success of the business. Without it, company’s goals may not be realized as
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there may be loss of focus on how to achieve those goals. Therefore, it helps

to give focus to the often scattered energy of tactics, and bring power to goals

and the larger business vision.

Conceptual Framework

The research paradigm which will guide the researcher in the conduct

of this study is presented below:

OUTPUT
PROCESS
Production
INPUT Gathering of
and
Information
Marketing
about their
Interviews Strategies of
Production
and Empanada
and
Documents Vendors in
Marketing
Vigan City,
Strategies
Ilocos Sur

Figure 1. Research Paradigm

To illustrate the study, the researchers used the Input-Process-Output

model to determine the Production and Marketing Strategies of Empanada

Vendors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

The Production and Marketing Strategies of the Empanada Vendors

cannot be determined without knowing how the Empanada Vendors does sell

their products and how do they produce or make the Empanada.

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The process involved the gathering of relevant information through the

use of conducting interviews and asking the respondents what are their

marketing strategies and how does the Empanada being produced. The output

variable will be the Production and Marketing Strategies of Empanada

Vendors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur. In addition, the relationships of the following

variables determined the input variable will be the base as it process, it will

determine the output of the study.

Methods

This part presents the detailed description that discusses the scheme of

action, process, or design that informs the methods employed in this study.

A scheme of action is required to attain the goal of answering the

questions asked by the researcher’s proponents. Specifically, this chapter

provides discussion on the data collection techniques, step-by-step

procedures followed, and data analysis techniques.

Research Design

This study used specifically on the Marketing Strategies of Empanada

Vendors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur. The study mainly focuses on the following:

a) how did the Empanada Vendors influenced and persuades the customers to
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buy Vigan Empanada; b) how are these Empanada being produced? c)

how does the Vigan Empanada are being marketed; and d) how did these

marketing strategies affect the Empanada business.

To further understand the study, the researchers conducted an

interview to the Empanada vendors on what are their marketing strategies in

selling the Vigan Empanada and how do they make Empanadas.

An in-depth interview to the Empanada vendors is conducted in Vigan

City, Ilocos Sur. The gathered data and information are interpreted by the

researchers to answer the question in connection to the Production and

Marketing Strategies of Empanda Vendors in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

Study Locale and Informants

The study was conducted within the vicinity of Vigan City, Ilocos Sur,

the UNESCO Heritage Site and the place where Empanadas are being

marketed or sold.

Along the vicinity of Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, two different informants were

purposely selected for the study namely: 1) Owners the Empanada Business

and 2) Employees who works in the said Empanada Business.

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The profile of 6 informants includes being an owner or employee of

those Empanada Stalls around Vigan City, Ilocos Sur who are knowledgeable

and who knows a lot about the production of their Empanada and who knows

about their Marketing Strategies in selling Empanadas. The distribution of

informants is presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Profile of Informants

Informants Name Age Address

A Helen Anagara 52 San Julian Sur,

Vigan City

B Maridel Gutierez 42 Cuta, Vigan City

C Tina Paculan 77 Cuta, Vigan City

D Rean Pilaban 48 Beddeng Laud,

Vigan City

E Irene Santos 46 Salcedo Street,

Vigan City

F Florencia Arranz 73 Salcedo Street,

Vigan City

Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2011) explained that qualitative research

projects usually work in small samples. In addition, Avila (2016) stated that

qualitative research follows a certain small size in the use of the subjects or
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informants of the study. It is usually a small number of non-representative

cases informants selected to fulfill a given quota.

Informants were selected for this study through careful consideration

based on the following criteria:

a. Should be a resident of Vigan City, Ilocos Sur;

b. Should know the Production of the Empanada;

c. Should know the marketing strategies of their Empanada business, and;

d. Willingness to participate in the study.

Data Gathering Procedure, Tool and Analysis

The student researchers will conduct the research undertaking for one

week in the second quarter of the second semester.

On the first day, the student researchers will gather information around

the City of Vigan. On the following days after the gathering of data, the

researchers will conduct the interview to the owners or employees of Vigan

City, Ilocos Sur.

On the last day, the researcher will then analyze and interpret the

gathered data and information from the business establishments and the

owners and employees of the Empanada Business.

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Interviews

Interviews were used when the researchers wants to elicit information

that are not observable or replicable (Merriam, 1998). Moreover, Patton (1990)

mentioned that the purpose of interviewing is “to access the perspective of the

person being interviewed”.

In the course of Interview, the researchers conducted a semi-structured

interview. This type of interview is flexible and allows the interviewee to

provide more information than the other ones. This form of interview is neither

too rigid nor too open. It is a moderate form in which a great amount of data

can be elicited from the interviewee.

The semi-structured interview allowed some structure, but also, will give

room for flexibility. In some situations, the researchers asked the informants to

offer their own insights into certain occurrences and may use such

propositions as the basis for further inquiry (Yin, 1994).

This method further allowed for follow-up interview questions to be

asked during the interview for clarity or further investigation. In this study,

owners and employees of the Empanada Stalls participated in the interviews.

The interview was recorded and transcribed right after.

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Data Analysis

For the analysis of this study, taking down notes were done,

translations of the answers in Filipino and Iloko were made; and finally

extractions from interviews were also done to further elicit the information

obtained from the informants.

Moreover, from the literature review of the production and marketing

strategies of empanada vendors might help those who are planning to put up

an empanada business and to have an effective business planning.

Cross examination of the cases with similar profiles, but different

settings, provided insights into diverse ways of conceptualizing initiatives.

When a pattern from one data type is corroborated by the evidence from one

another, the finding is stronger. When evidence conflicts, deeper probing of

the difference is necessary to identify the cause or source of conflicts.

In all cases, the researchers treat the evidence fairly to produce analytic

conclusions answering the original ‘how’ and ‘what’ research questions. This

analysis helped create an effective knowledge based for working toward the

goal to determine how beliefs and instructional practices of culturally relevant

educators compare (Yin, 2003).

Working with the data, one describes, creates explanations, poses

hypotheses, develops theories, and links the story to other stories (Glesne,

2006).
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Raw data can be interesting to look at, yet they do not help the reader

to understand the social world under scrutiny, and the way the participants

view it, unless such data have been systematically analyze to illuminate an

existent situation. Coding or categorizing the data has an important role in

analysis. It involves subdividing the data as well as assigning categories (Dey,

1993).

In using cross-case analysis, Khan and Van Wynsberghe (2008)

postulated that it facilitates the comparison of commonalities and difference in

the events, activities, and processes that are the units of analyzes in case

studies.

By identifying similarities and differences, the researchers seek to

provide insight to the issues. Moreover, in case study analysis, knowledge is

mobilized from individual case studies and proposed when case knowledge is

accumulated, there are compare and contrast cases and in doing so, to

produce new knowledge.

Studying multiple cases make it possible to build a logical chain of

evidence (Teegavarapu, 2004). A multiple case study enables the researcher

to explore differences within and between cases.

The goal is to replicate things across cases. Because comparisons will

be drawn, it is imperative that the cases are chosen carefully so that the

researcher can predict similar results across cases, or predict contrasting

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results based on a theory (Yin, 2013). They use the cross case analysis to

seek chain of evidence for the relationships studied from the case data

(Sewing, 2010).