EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUSTOMER-PERCEIVED SANITARY PRACTICES AND SATISFACTION IN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS IN DAPITAN CITY

This study aimed to evaluate the sanitary practices and customer satisfaction in food establishments in Dapitan City, with the goal of formulating effective sanitary policies for the locality in 2025. A descriptive research design was utilized, employing a questionnaire as the principal instrument for data collection. The data were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, weighted mean, standard deviation, the Mann-Whitney test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman rank-order correlation. Results indicated that the majority of customers in Dapitan City's food establishments were adult females with high educational attainment. A strong correlation was found between high compliance with sanitation practices and higher levels of customer satisfaction. Among the various factors contributing to customer satisfaction, food quality emerged as the most influential. The study also revealed no significant differences in customer perceptions of sanitary practices based on sex and age, but a significant difference was found based on educational attainment. Similarly, the study found that educational attainment significantly impacted customer satisfaction, while sex and age did not significantly predict it. Furthermore, a strong positive relationship was observed between customers' perceived sanitary practices and their satisfaction with food establishments in Dapitan City.