The Shawarma Shack is a

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

food franchise known for its "

buy one, get one free "Buy one, get one free" or "two for the price of one" is a common form of sales promotion. Marketing strategy The economist Alex Tabarrok has argued, that the success of this promotion lies in the fact that consumers value the first unit sig ...

shawarma Shawarma (; ) is a Middle Eastern dish that originated in the Levant during the Ottoman Empire, consisting of meat that is cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slow-turning vertical spit. Traditionally made with l ...

wraps. It started on February 21, 2015, as a nightly

ambulant Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

food stand A food boothalso called a food kiosk, food stand, food stall or temporary food service facilityis a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at ...

Divisoria Divisoria () is a commercial ''sub-district'' along the districts of Tondo, Binondo, and San Nicolas in Manila, Philippines known for its mass market shops selling low-priced commodities; and for its diverse manufacturing activities. Tutuban C ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

operated by Walther Uzi Buenavista and Patricia Collantes. As of 2024, it has over 800 outlets and 1000 employees throughout the Philippines.

History

In 2015, 25-year old Walther Uzi Buenavista and his wife Patricia launched a food stand at the

Tutuban Center Tutuban Center is a shopping complex and public transit hub in Manila, Philippines that opened in 1993. It encompasses five retail buildings and a parking building in and around Manila's central train station located in the shopping precinct of ...

night market in Manila selling shawarma wraps. Walther would make the

pita bread Pita ( or ; ) or pitta (British English), also known as Arabic bread (, ), as Lebanese bread and as kmaj (from the Persian ''kumaj''), is a family of yeast- leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Levant ...

while Patricia would help prepare the ingredients and recipe. The business was initially unsuccessful as daily sales were very low. The couple then decided to gradually close down the stand. In order to clear out the inventory, Walther offered a "buy one, get one free" promotion for his wraps. This proved successful for the business and for the first time, their average daily sales went up. As the business grew, the couple incorporated the promotion as an integral part of their marketing strategy. One of their first expansions was an open air store in

SM City North EDSA SM North EDSA (formerly known as The SM Center North EDSA, The SM City North EDSA and also known as SM City North EDSA) is a large shopping mall located in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the first SM Supermall in the country an ...

which they applied for and subsequently rejected 12 times. Most tenants in the area were short-lived except for the Shawarma Shack outlet which became a top seller, impressing the leasing management. In October 2016, its first store outside

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

was launched at

SM City Dasmariñas SM City Dasmariñas is a large shopping mall owned by SM Prime Holdings. It is the second SM Supermall to be opened in Cavite, Philippines. It is located along kilometer 35, Governor's Drive, Sampaloc 1, Dasmariñas, Cavite Cavite, o ...

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

. Its first store in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

was launched in May 2018 at Elizabeth Mall Cebu while its store in

Zamboanga City Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (; ; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Bagbenwa Sembwangan''; Sama–Bajaw languages, Sama: ''Lungsud Samboangan''; ; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city i ...

opened in August 2018 was its first in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

. Currently, the business' products are manufactured from a food facility in Quezon City. The business contracts

Daniel Padilla Daniel John Elago Ford (born April 26, 1995), known professionally as Daniel Padilla, is a Filipino actor and singer. He is a recipient of multiple accolades across television, film, and music, including the FAMAS Award for Best Actor and PMP ...

and

Kathryn Bernardo Kathryn Chandria Manuel Bernardo (born March 26, 1996) is a Filipino actress. She began her career as a child actress, portraying young versions of lead characters in series such as '' It Might Be You'' (2003) and '' Endless Love'' (2010). She ...

as their brand endorsers.

Products

The franchise specializes in offering a range of beef and chicken shawarma, available in both spicy and non-spicy variations, served in pita bread. In addition to shawarma, the menu features tikka and kebab wraps, as well as rice meals, catering to a variety of customer preferences.

References

{{Food chains in the Philippines 2014 establishments in the Philippines Food and drink companies of the Philippines Food and drink companies established in 2014