Cebu recently became the meeting place for food entrepreneurs from across the Visayas as foodpanda hosted its CRAVE Partner Summit & Awards 2026, bringing together restaurant owners and regional food brands that continue to grow through digital platforms.
The Cebu City gathering highlighted a trend many local food businesses are already experiencing: reaching customers today goes beyond having a physical restaurant. For merchants, online visibility, customer data, marketing tools, and reliable delivery can also play a role in expanding their market.
For homegrown brands across Central, Eastern, and Western Visayas, the summit provided an opportunity to learn how digital tools can help them reach more customers—not only within their communities but also across provincial markets.
How foodpanda Is Supporting Regional Food Businesses
According to foodpanda Philippines, its merchant ecosystem provides businesses with tools such as customer analytics, targeted marketing solutions, and delivery fulfillment support.
These tools can give restaurant owners a better view of customer demand and help them make decisions around promotions, operations, and daily capacity.
Patricia Jacinto, Director for Growth and Marketing at foodpanda Philippines, said the company’s goal is to support the growth of its merchant partners by combining their culinary expertise with digital tools and business insights.
For Cebu and other parts of the Visayas, this can be particularly relevant as local restaurants continue to serve both residents and visitors exploring the region.
Visayas’ Food Brands Recognized at CRAVE 2026
One of the highlights of the Cebu summit was the recognition of foodpanda’s regional merchant partners for their performance, growth, marketing initiatives, operational reliability, and customer response.
The Pau-Pau’s Top of Table award recognized Alberto’s Pizza, Sal’s Bar and Restaurant, Dimsum Break, Ribshack, and PorkHub for market leadership and sales performance.
Meanwhile, Sisigan Sa Doctors, Ma. Lina Catering Services, The Original AA BBQ, Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries, and Tiktilaok received the Pau-Pau’s Momentum Master award for their year-on-year growth during the first half of 2026.
The Pau-Pau’s Brand Spotlight category recognized Felisa’s Cafe & Restaurant, Mom Rose, Cebu’s Tasty Lechon, Cribs, Ram’s Pizza, Pasta and Milktea, and Metro Retail Supermarket for their marketing efforts and partnership with the platform.
For service reliability and fulfillment, Hybrid Coffee, Somac Korean Restaurant, Got Tea? Crafted Milk Tea, Popcha Milktea Station, Gabby’s Bistro, and Rose Pharmacy were recognized with the Operational Excellence award.
Customer favorites were also highlighted through the People’s Palate Award, which recognized Hukad Everyday Filipino, SAJ HUT, Mango Magic, Dapogan, and Wingers Unlimited for strong customer ratings and repeat orders.
What This Means for Cebu’s Food Scene
For foodies, the growth of local restaurants on digital platforms means more ways to discover familiar favorites and regional brands.
For restaurant owners, meanwhile, the shift toward digital ordering provides another avenue to reach customers without relying solely on walk-in traffic.
This is especially interesting in a food-loving city like Cebu, where established restaurants, neighborhood favorites, cafés, caterers, and emerging food businesses continue to compete for the attention of locals and visitors.
The CRAVE summit also puts the spotlight on something that often happens behind the scenes: the technology and data that help food businesses understand what customers are ordering and when demand is changing.
More Digital Tools Coming for Merchants
Looking ahead to the holiday season, foodpanda said it is strengthening its merchant ecosystem with AI-driven forecasting tools and automated marketing features.
These are intended to help regional vendors plan capacity, respond to demand, and encourage repeat orders.
For small and growing food businesses, tools like these could become increasingly important as customers become more accustomed to discovering and ordering food online.
Following its Cebu gathering, the CRAVE 2026 roadshow is set to proceed to Manila for its final leg.
For Cebu’s food community, the summit offered a glimpse into how homegrown brands are using technology to reach customers—and potentially take their businesses beyond the neighborhood where they started.
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