Thesis (BS Agribusiness Economics) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, May 2019

The robust expansion of modern retailing greatly impacted both traditional food retailing and the buying behavior of consumers. The study aimed to test this information in urbanizing locale. Specifically, the study aimed to determine the retail outlet choices of consumers for meat, the frequency of visits of retail outlets, and consumer spending behaviors to observe the development of retailing in Kidapawan City. Multinomial Logistic regression was used to predict the probability of supermarkets, palengke, and neighbors to be the retail outlet choice for meat (e.g. pork, chicken, and beef) based on sociodemographics, retail attributes, and the impact of TRAIN Law to the budget allocation of respondents. Data reveal the continued dominance of palengke in the research locale for its rich social culture which makes it a retail outlet for consumers of diverse sociodemographics. Educated households were found to prefer supermarkets while married respondents prefer neighbors selling meat. Respondents were observed to access multiple retail outlets for meat despite having retail outlet choices which is highly influenced by distance from home and ownership of refrigeration units. Once or twice a week is identified to be the most ideal frequency of visits for respondents across retail outlets and income brackets. There was also a general increase in the budget allocation of households in all income brackets after TRAIN Law. It is recommended to improve the quality of service and continue monitoring the quality of meat in palengke in order to retain its market position. Neighbors selling meat is emerging in the small communities of the locale which has a high potential in stimulating the local economy. Hence, the outlet operating in the informal economy must be regulated and facilitated in order to become a recognized retail format.