Filipinos’ love of food makes restaurants and other food outlets the core of the country’s vibrant mall sector, but breaking into the business can be a challenge, given the strong preference for established brands, the president of a successful Filipino food chain said.

Rommel Juan, president of Binalot Fiesta Foods Inc., which operates the Filipino-menu chain Binalot, said that established food brands are key drivers of mall operations, and are often preferred by mall operators to draw in crowd of consumers.