Following the successful launch of Enchanted Kingdom’s flying theater AGILA: The EKsperience in December 2016, a new facet of the “Agila” attraction opens—the Pugad Café, an outdoor coffee shop with a sense of purpose.
Located outside the Agila building, this brand new concoction blends perfectly well with Pugad, Agila’s very own merchandise store. The new hangout is in keeping with EK’s Retail-tainment concept, which essentially entices guests to spend more time in the Agila building and get more from the attraction.
Enchanted Kingdom’s Merchandise Division Head Cheri Consunji says, “Adding entertainment and experiences to the retail mix at Pugad Store will drive Agila park guests feeling like they had the full Agila experience. We are building a brand experience, that of Pinoy Pride, that’s enriching enough in its own right, but also amplifies that experience even after leaving the park.”
Everything about the Pugad Café is interesting. Its outdoor location is open and airy, and much of what’s there to see are products of upcycling, a practice of creatively reusing seemingly useless, often discarded materials to give them new life and purpose.
Consunji explains, “Everything old is new again and this is Enchanted Kingdom’s way of giving back to the environment. Pugad Café is furnished using upcycled materials from the building of Agila, and scraps from the EK Fun Kart attraction. Cable spools were turned into tables, tires were used as café chairs, and wood crates (which served as shipping containers for the Agila Theater equipment) were utilized to create the coffee shop counter.”
She adds, “We are turning the entire experience into a conscious consumer’s dream, from the Agila attraction to the Pugad Store & Café.”
More than upcycling the design elements, sourcing the food items offered at the Café also follow EK’s clear advocacy for the Agila attraction.
It offers Philippine-made products like freshly brewed Arabica coffee and Kapeng Barako, healthy fruit juices, Bayani Brew tea drinks, fruit tarts, banana bread, cheese rolls, cookie and bread sticks. There will also be featured products each month, like the queso de bola ensaymada and the artisanal bibingka and puto bumbong in December.