08 August 2008
Text and photos by Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
STO. DOMINGO, Albay—A struggling single mother, Lutgarda Alejo would rise up very early to make rounds in villages carrying a woven basket filled with “linanggang,” this town’s native version of “kakanin.”
After a tiring day of selling, she would go home with less than P500 and aching feet.
Alejo might have thought this routine was enough to make both ends meet for her family, but she realized she could upgrade her business.
Today, Alejo, from being just a walking linanggang vendor, is a living example of success to many other linanggang makers in Barangay Fidel Surtida.
In this village, there are around 70 households cooking and selling linanggang, which has been identified as Sto. Domingo’s town product by the Department of Trade and Industry.
Linanggang is a native kakanin made from cassava, rice, sweet potato, and banana, all major agricultural products of this town.
Russell Nieves, trade and industry development specialist of the DTI in Albay, said linanggang served as alternative food for the locals at the height of the Japanese invasion in the region.
“The people were not able to till their farms or fish regularly because of fear of the Japanese. After World War II, linanggang-making became a common livelihood in the community,” Nieves said.
From village streets, Alejo’s native foods have now reached malls in the cities of Tabaco and Legazpi carrying the brand name “Mama Lutz Delicacies.”
Alejo said she never thought all these developments in her product and business were possible.
“Just like many of the linanggang-makers here in our place, I grew up to traditional ways of cooking and selling,” Alejo claimed.
But through DTI-sponsored trainings, Alejo was able to develop her products and improve their packaging.
From unsophisticated plastic wrappers, Alejo’s products are now gracefully stuffed in polystyrene foam (commonly known as “Styrofoam”) with printed labels on them.
She also got her products approved by the Bureau of Food and Drugs.
At first Alejo was hesitant, or even pessimistic, about revolutionizing her ways of business.
“I never had a bigger vision for my livelihood. But one day, I said, why not give it a try?” said Alejo, who used P15,000 of her savings to start anew.
Now, Alejo does not have to walk around villages to sell. She was the first among Fidel Surtida traders to bring her products to the mall.
For her, manning two stalls in malls is not a bad start as her P500 earnings have multiplied to at least P3,000 daily.
Alejo said she seeks to expand her business by someday investing on technology that will improve the shelf-life of her linanggang.
“I want my products to reach places outside the region. I have once sold my products to people who brought them to as far as Aparri, Cebu and Davao,” Alejo said.
She added that befriending one’s loyal consumers does wonders in promoting the business. “My products are advertised by word of mouth. There would be times when, unexpectedly, customers would just visit my house and place bulk orders,” Alejo said.
There are around 30 food varieties under linanggang.
Some of Alejo’s products are the tabog-tabog (cassava, sweet potato, sugar, vanilla), inagom (cassava, corn, young coconut), cassava kalamay (latik, condensed milk, margarine, cassava, nuts), and many others.
High cost of ingredients
Despite the developments in Alejo’s business, she said the current economic slump badly affects linanggang makers.
Coconut, a mainstay ingredient, costs at least P15 per piece. Before Supertyphoon Reming ravaged massive coconut plantations in Bicol, it only cost P8.
The prices of cassava, camote, malagkit (glutinous rice) and sugar have also increased.
Nieves said it is in a time like this when entrepreneurs should be educated and empowered.
He said it is challenging to convince makers of native products, who are usually locked in traditional production and marketing means, to widen their horizon.
“In 2005, the DTI sponsored a local study mission trip in Cainta, Rizal, to expose linanggang makers to other successful native food entrepreneurs,” Nieves said, adding that real success stories could easily inspire starters.
Nieves said the linanggang makers of Sto. Domingo still need more capability-enhancement trainings to boost their morale, better technology to increase production, and new marketing strategies to broaden their niche.
Now, each day for Alejo no longer ends with an aching feet.
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