Seafood City, North America’s largest Filipino-American grocery chain, launched a new app, enabling its 400,000 active members to shop for Filipino products, pay bills, and even send remittances to the Philippines on their mobile phones.
The grocery giant Seafood City launched an online shopping app called SFC+ on October 21, 2024. The SFC+ application was developed by Talino Ventures Lab and is now available on Apple’s App Store and on Google Play. At the launch event, Matt Go, Vice President of Seafood City, stated that users could purchase grocery products as well as all their “favorite Filipino cakes, Filipino breads,” and " favorite grilled Filipino food.” The app provides delivery options from over 38 stores across the United States and Canada. Furthermore, users in the Philippines can order products and gift them to family and friends in North America.
A Market That is More Than Groceries
Aside from purchasing Seafood City products, SFC+ users have access to a wide range of financial services, such as online bill payments, personal banking through East West Bank USA, and more. Moreover, users can send remittances to family members in the Philippines without paying any fees. This is significant because the Philippines received $38 billion in remittances in 2022, which was more than 9% of the country’s GDP. For those seeking to support the Philippines in other ways, users can donate to charities like Gawad Kalinga and ABS-CBN Foundation International.
The SFC+ application also allows users to make bigger purchases. For example, users can purchase condominiums in 91 locations within the Philippines through SM Development Corporation. Furthermore, the application provides access to discounted Philippine Airlines flights. Ultimately, this app will connect American users to a broad range of goods and services from the Philippines.
Seafood City’s Rise to Success
In 1989, Seafood City opened its doors in National City San Francisco to help alleviate Filipino immigrants’ nostalgia for the food and flavors of the Philippines. Unlike other stores, Seafood City is recognized as a “grocerant” or a combination grocery store and restaurant. In most Seafood City locations, customers can eat Filipino-style pork and chicken barbecue at Grill City, order crunchy snack foods at Crispy Town, and buy fresh pastries at Bakers Avenue.
Over the past 35 years, Seafood City has experienced great success. The company has expanded to include stores in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, Texas, and Washington. The most recent addition to the company was a brand new 37,000-square-foot market in Maui, Hawaii. Moreover, Seafood City stores see 1 million shoppers every week.
Filipino Influence in America
The new SFC+ application will cater to a large and significant demographic in the US. In 2022, 4.1 million Filipino Americans lived in the US, which is 17% of the country’s Asian American population. Meanwhile, nearly 2 million Filipino immigrants reside in the US, according to data from 2021, placing Filipinos as the fourth-largest immigrant group after Mexicans, Indians, and Chinese. Aside from being a large consumer base, Filipino American households had a median income of $100,600 in 2022, which presents great economic opportunity for businesses selling Filipino products.
However, the new app will not only benefit Filipino immigrants and Filipino Americans. The SFC+ app can tap into growing interest in Filipino food and culture within the US. In the past four years, this interest was seen in the success of a family-owned restaurant in the DMV area, the rise of fine dining in Los Angeles, culture festivals in Kansas City and Dallas, and the nationwide popularity of ube or purple yam in desserts. Yet, this increasing interest is not just seen anecdotally. Research conducted by Tastewise, a food analytics firm, found that interest in Filipino food among Generation Z increased by 50% from 2023 to 2024.
Evidently, Filipino cultural influence is strong in the US, and it may become stronger because of entrepreneurial efforts from companies like Seafood City. With just a few taps on the phone, families across the US can not only access Filipino food and products but also many ways to invest in the Philippines. This presents many new opportunities for economic and cultural exchange between both countries, which should be followed in the upcoming years.
Daniel Salgado-Alvarez is a Fall 2024 Young Professional at the East-West Center. He is a recent graduate from Harvard University, where he studied sociology and East Asian studies.