The name pretty much sums it all up: Mall of Kitchens (MOK) is a chef’s dreamland and continues to be the inspiration behind many culinary fantasies of someday having a kitchen furnished with everything you need.
A 2,500sqm facility (equipped with a 1,000 sqm store/selling area) located in San Antonio Village, Makati City, it’s the first foodservice mall in the Philippines, fully stocked with the highest quality kitchen equipment, utensils, foodservice furniture and other merchandise for commercial as well as household use. These products are of the highest quality food grade materials and have passed all international safety standards.
A Culinary haven for corporate clients as well as for homemakers
MOK is a brand under Technolux, the country’s largest importer and distributor of a complete line of foodservice, small wares, laundry and cleaning equipment.
“We used to have a small display area measuring 20sqm then moved to a 400sqm showroom,” says Jenny Carlos AVP-Smallwares. “We felt that this was not enough to showcase the wide array of products that we offered. Thus, the idea of opening MOK was born.”
The store concept has since then morphed into a fully-integrated showroom that doubles as a one-stop shop complete with its own test kitchen where the company’s corporate chefs hold free demos on the proper use of various kitchen equipment as well as other useful topics like food safety and proper sanitation.
“The vision was to develop a new culinary haven which would allow the market to be in step with the trends in the foodservice and hospitality industry,” says Carlos.
“What sets us apart from other distributors is that MOK is not only a showroom, it is also a retail store. We have sales agents to service our corporate clients. But our value added offering is that our customers can visit MOK, peruse our products and equipment and leave the store with their purchases. It is easy and convenient,” she adds.
While MOK was a fairly new brand of Technolux back then, introducing it to the market wasn’t so much of a challenge for the company given that Technolux already had a rock-solid client base composed mostly of hotels, resorts, restaurants, hospitals, manufacturing & industrial plants and convenience stores.
“When we opened MOK, there was instant appreciation by our institutional customers like hotels and restaurants. We understood how to sell directly (to business establishments) but the concept also had a retail facet to it and so we had to be open to what the everyday market (such as homemakers, home cooks, start-up businesses and foodies) needed. We underwent a process of finding the right formula to keep people interested with the MOK. And this is something we continue to do since we opened in 2012,” Carlos says.
To further spread the word and give walk-in customers a reason to visit MOK and to keep them coming back, it expanded its initial inventory of plates, glasses and an assortment of kitchen utensils to a complete line of merchandise that caters to the everyday needs of the regular home cook. To date, MOK has well over 3,000 SKUs (Stock Keeping Unit) and about 30 to 40 brands under its portfolio.
MOK also created its own social media pages on Facebook and Instagram where updates on the latest offerings and activities in the store are posted, including regular learning sessions that customers can take part in for free to know more about the foodservice and hospitality industry.
Navigating the kitchen
Shopping at MOK is a pleasurable, even a leisurely activity – once you get familiar with every nook of the store.
Neatly arranged in racks are pots and pans in varying sizes, colors and materials as well as an assortment of kitchen knives and other implements. Shelves filled with plates, glassware, crystals and flatware imported from Europe, Middle East and China are displayed around the store, while dining table set-ups and other showcases give customers new and exciting ideas on how to create their own beautiful dinner table at home.
For homemakers and culinary students, there are kitchenware, kitchen footwear, banquet consumables as well as food and sauce containers in cute and stylish designs. Durable furniture for food service establishments are also in the mix including big umbrellas for outdoor sitting.
For institutional sales, on the other hand, MOK offers world-class products such as RAK Porcelain, De Buyer, American Metal Craft, Table Craft and Zieher, just to name a few, which are the preferred brands of the country’s top hotel and restaurants. The most in-demand equipment includes Manitowoc Ice Machines, Frymaster Deep Fryers, Taylor Soft Serve Freezers and Vitamix Blenders.
Excitement simmers in MOK’s future
“MOK sees itself to continuously be part of the growth of the Philippine economy. As our working class grows, more businesses shall expand to cater to the growing consumer market; both for local and foreign brands; all of which will require a strong backbone to supply appropriate and adequate products while setting the industry’s trend. MOK aims to grow both in category and reach,” Carlos explains.
To achieve this, MOK regularly sends its team to different parts of the world to keep abreast of the latest developments in the culinary landscape. “We also travel to local destinations to bring our products to different cities in the country. We continue to invest in our people, making sure that they are equipped to serve our customers.”
“As we grow, we aim to deliver more products at popular price points. At the end of the day, we want to be part of every business in the country and always be their top-of-mind choice. Technolux’s reliability and service orientation ensure the development of long-term relationship with our customers. This means improving the way we do business and consistently delivering quality products and services that go beyond their expectations,” Carlos says in ending.
Store hours at MOK are from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays. It offers motorcycle deliveries to corporate customers who require small item sizes immediately delivered to store locations.
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MALL OF KITCHENS is located at 9703 Kamagong St.,Corner Lawaan St., San Antonio Village, Makati City. Ample parking is available. For inquiries, call 890-6758 / 552-3587. Also visit its website www.technolux.net and follow us on Facebook at Mall of Kitchens – Philippines.
