By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 19:30:00 07/10/2010
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY – Consistent with Bicol’s spicy food culture, a restaurant in the city serves spicy ice cream. How cool or hot is that?
Flavored with “siling labuyo” (chili), every scoop of the ice cream has tamed spiciness that blends well with cold creamy sweetness. And that can only be found at the 1st Colonial Grill, a homegrown restaurant that has built a name of its own.
But sili ice cream is just their dessert along with other innovative flavors like pili, coffee, “tinutong na bagas” (toasted rice), malunggay, kalamansi, and melon.
The 1st Colonial Grill also serves native dishes that remind one of his grandmother’s cooking, say restaurant owners Elmer Boy and Rowena Aspe.
The thriving restaurant, which now has a branch in a mall in this city, a newly opened one in Daraga, Albay, and a food court outlet in a mall in Naga City, was built on April 25, 2004.
No competition
Since then, for a homegrown restaurant, it has been competing well with national industry players and fast food giants.
Or it has not actually been competing at all. The 1st Colonial Grill stands securely in line with fast foods and big-named restaurants.
Elmer Boy says they never intended to compete with what had been there.
He says the 1st Colonial Grill has its own niche – people who want healthy comfort food with a twist served in a homey ambiance.
“Whenever our family had visitors from other places, we realized there were few choice restaurants we could bring them to. So we decided to put up the 1st Colonial Grill,” recalls Elmer Boy.
The 1st Colonial Grill is an offshoot of the Aspe family’s 60-branch pawnshop business in the Bicol region.
It is named such because its first branch was located in an old building built in the 1930s during the American Colonial Period.
Elmer Boy says they found it wiser not to compete but to offer something new, “If you compete with the fast food chains, the quality and the price will be sacrificed.”
Critics
With their three children as their critics, the Aspe couple know that the food they serve is of supreme quality and delectable taste.
“Before adding a new dish in the menu, we first have our children taste it. If they like it, then we offer it to our customers,” says Rowena.
The restaurant uses local ingredients from local sources, she says. They have once been offered cheaper and processed imported meat but they refused. While it could have saved them money, it would be very unhealthy.
Rowena says they also use vegetable oil to significantly reduce cholesterol levels in their dishes.
“We put health on top priority, because we and our children eat the food ourselves,” she adds.
Good food
The 1st Colonial Grill caters to all A, B, and C markets. “Everyone wants good food,” Elmer says.
The 1st Colonial Grill’s best sellers are Bicol Express (chilies cooked in gata); the Colonial Fried Chicken served in whole or half, which is an original family recipe; and the five-spice grilled chicken, which is marinated in five special spices.
Another best seller is vegetable kare-kare. The vegetables are supplied locally while the sauce and shrimp paste (bagoong) are homemade.
One can also have a taste of deep-fried vegetarian spring rolls, which are stuffed with mushroom, cabbage, carrots, vermicelli, bean sprouts, peanuts, and coriander served with a special sauce.
The restaurant also offers chop suey with a twist, that is, chop suey cooked in coconut milk with buko meat.
If there is Bikol Express, there can never be without “Tin-nu-to” (laing). This is dried gabi (taro) leaves cooked in coconut cream.
One cannot just say no to the restaurant’s Baby Back Ribs, a primal cut of pork meat cooked to be relatively tender, rubbed with spices and grilled.
All these main course dishes perfectly match with the unique “tinapa” (smoked fish) fried rice served in a “kawali.”
Service with love
Rowena says the entire family knows the ins and outs of the business, “We know how to do everything, from washing the dishes to cleaning the restroom.”
This is important if they want to pass on a culture of quality service on to their staff, she adds.
“We train the staff members ourselves. All we look for as qualifications are dedication and trainability,” says Elmer.
He claims most of their employees have been with them for a long time and they have seen how the business has grown over the years. This loyalty has bred in them a sense of ownership.
And the secret to a thriving business?
“To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity,” Elmer says.
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Business booms while waiting for big bang
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--With more than 75,000 volcano-watchers flocking into Albay province this month alone, there were no vacant tables at the Small Talk Café on Sunday.
The Hotel St. Ellis, an expensive establishment that opened only this month, had just one room left on Tuesday night. Hotel Venezia was fully booked for five days until the 29th.
Taxi drivers say they’re averaging only three hours of sleep and car rental services are on round-the-clock operations.
Business is booming in Albay as thousands of adventure-seeking tourists are drawn to the restive Mayon Volcano with many even risking their lives to get close to the spectacular flowing lava, according to provincial authorities.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said 2,400 tourists a day had been pouring into the area since the famously active volcano started oozing lava on Dec. 14, compared with about 200 a day before.
“All the hotels are fully booked, even the cheapest ones,” Salceda said.
He said the tourists typically only stay overnight to view the crimson lava oozing from the volcano’s crater in the dark.
“It is like a slow-moving meteor show. You really feel awe when you see it,” he said.
Courting danger
However, Salceda said many tourists were also slipping past security patrols to enter the 8-kilometer danger zone around Mayon to get a close-up experience of the slow-moving lava column.
“There are enough thrill-seekers and, when you combine them with some enterprising local guides, they find their way in,” he said.
The military heightened security around Mayon on Monday after two foreign tourists were seen over the weekend riding all-terrain vehicles toward the volcano.
Salceda warned that although the lava was slow-moving, there was still a danger from volcanic ash that could mix with rainwater to form a lethal, fast-moving mudflow.
Such a confluence had claimed hundreds of lives in the past, most recently in 2006.
“It’s a big problem. I think the first violation of the zero casualty [record] will be a dead tourist,” said Salceda.
“At the moment of eruption, the local guides will have a better chance of getting out. The hapless tourist will be left behind,” he said.
Businesses here claim that their revenues have increased by as much as 30 percent since Mayon started becoming restive as tourists are drawn to the volcanic show.
Soaring revenues
At the Small Talk Café, diners came nonstop on Sunday. Café owner Bernadette Peralta said it was like Valentine’s Day, the only time of the year when sales would triple.
“We have even surpassed last year’s December sales when there was less competition,” said Peralta, noting that the café experienced similar high sales in 2006, when the volcano last erupted.
One of Small Talk’s specialties, Pasta Mayon, has also become some kind of attraction. The dish is made from the triangular ravioli pasta arranged to resemble Mayon’s nearly perfect cone. It is topped by a sizzling red sauce that looks like flowing lava.
Round-the-clock service
There is round-the-clock demand for car services from tourists asking to be driven to Ligñon Hill whose deck affords a full view of Mayon as well as a 360-degree vista of the city and neighboring Daraga town.
Harvey Santos Mayores, manager of the Early Riser Taxi Services, who drives one of his own units, said he is usually on the road until 2 a.m.
Edward Belda, a driver for the Benmar Transport Services, has been hiring himself out to media organizations covering the natural disaster by day and to lava-watching tourists by night.
The flag-down rate for taxicabs here is P30. Car rental rates range from P3,500 to P4,500 per day, depending on the length and duration of travel.
Tour guides
On ordinary days, 60-year-old Benny Rodriguez is a golf course caretaker in Barangay Padang. Now he earns extra as a tour guide.
He said many tourists wanting a closer view of Mayon would negotiate the rough climb to the Legazpi Golf Course, which is inside the 8-km extended danger zone. The course is just within the 5-km radius of the volcano.
Not being a regular guide, Rodriguez, whose clients include media people, tourists and celebrities, does not charge a fixed rate and accepts whatever the customer is willing to give.
He said local tourists tend to be more generous. Recently, a famous golf-playing television host paid him P1,000.
Chopper rides
Misibis Bay Raintree, a luxury island resort in the Albay Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, has noted a significant increase in revenues from its A-list market.
The resort on Cagraray Island offers to high-end clients a volcano adventure tour package, which includes a one-hour chopper ride or an ocean cruise to view Mayon from a safe distance.
Manager Ian Varona said there are precautions to take to ensure the safety of tourists but Mayon, one of the world’s wonders, should not be feared.
He said letting tourism thrive will help boost the local economy, generate more jobs and bring long-term benefits.
Losses suffered
Political economist Carl Ala of the University of the Philippines-Manila, who is now based in Bicol, said that increased business revenues because of the Mayon eruption were still nothing compared to the losses suffered.
“We should also see the calamity’s damage to crops. Many farmers were not able to harvest. The government’s relief spending amounts to P1.5 million daily,” Ala said.
Salceda, who earlier said that disaster tourism was not one of his government’s development strategies, estimated that 75,000 tourists came to Albay in December alone.
This one-month figure has already surpassed the number of tourists that arrived in the province in 2008, he said. With a report from Agence France-Presse
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--With more than 75,000 volcano-watchers flocking into Albay province this month alone, there were no vacant tables at the Small Talk Café on Sunday.
The Hotel St. Ellis, an expensive establishment that opened only this month, had just one room left on Tuesday night. Hotel Venezia was fully booked for five days until the 29th.
Taxi drivers say they’re averaging only three hours of sleep and car rental services are on round-the-clock operations.
Business is booming in Albay as thousands of adventure-seeking tourists are drawn to the restive Mayon Volcano with many even risking their lives to get close to the spectacular flowing lava, according to provincial authorities.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said 2,400 tourists a day had been pouring into the area since the famously active volcano started oozing lava on Dec. 14, compared with about 200 a day before.
“All the hotels are fully booked, even the cheapest ones,” Salceda said.
He said the tourists typically only stay overnight to view the crimson lava oozing from the volcano’s crater in the dark.
“It is like a slow-moving meteor show. You really feel awe when you see it,” he said.
Courting danger
However, Salceda said many tourists were also slipping past security patrols to enter the 8-kilometer danger zone around Mayon to get a close-up experience of the slow-moving lava column.
“There are enough thrill-seekers and, when you combine them with some enterprising local guides, they find their way in,” he said.
The military heightened security around Mayon on Monday after two foreign tourists were seen over the weekend riding all-terrain vehicles toward the volcano.
Salceda warned that although the lava was slow-moving, there was still a danger from volcanic ash that could mix with rainwater to form a lethal, fast-moving mudflow.
Such a confluence had claimed hundreds of lives in the past, most recently in 2006.
“It’s a big problem. I think the first violation of the zero casualty [record] will be a dead tourist,” said Salceda.
“At the moment of eruption, the local guides will have a better chance of getting out. The hapless tourist will be left behind,” he said.
Businesses here claim that their revenues have increased by as much as 30 percent since Mayon started becoming restive as tourists are drawn to the volcanic show.
Soaring revenues
At the Small Talk Café, diners came nonstop on Sunday. Café owner Bernadette Peralta said it was like Valentine’s Day, the only time of the year when sales would triple.
“We have even surpassed last year’s December sales when there was less competition,” said Peralta, noting that the café experienced similar high sales in 2006, when the volcano last erupted.
One of Small Talk’s specialties, Pasta Mayon, has also become some kind of attraction. The dish is made from the triangular ravioli pasta arranged to resemble Mayon’s nearly perfect cone. It is topped by a sizzling red sauce that looks like flowing lava.
Round-the-clock service
There is round-the-clock demand for car services from tourists asking to be driven to Ligñon Hill whose deck affords a full view of Mayon as well as a 360-degree vista of the city and neighboring Daraga town.
Harvey Santos Mayores, manager of the Early Riser Taxi Services, who drives one of his own units, said he is usually on the road until 2 a.m.
Edward Belda, a driver for the Benmar Transport Services, has been hiring himself out to media organizations covering the natural disaster by day and to lava-watching tourists by night.
The flag-down rate for taxicabs here is P30. Car rental rates range from P3,500 to P4,500 per day, depending on the length and duration of travel.
Tour guides
On ordinary days, 60-year-old Benny Rodriguez is a golf course caretaker in Barangay Padang. Now he earns extra as a tour guide.
He said many tourists wanting a closer view of Mayon would negotiate the rough climb to the Legazpi Golf Course, which is inside the 8-km extended danger zone. The course is just within the 5-km radius of the volcano.
Not being a regular guide, Rodriguez, whose clients include media people, tourists and celebrities, does not charge a fixed rate and accepts whatever the customer is willing to give.
He said local tourists tend to be more generous. Recently, a famous golf-playing television host paid him P1,000.
Chopper rides
Misibis Bay Raintree, a luxury island resort in the Albay Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, has noted a significant increase in revenues from its A-list market.
The resort on Cagraray Island offers to high-end clients a volcano adventure tour package, which includes a one-hour chopper ride or an ocean cruise to view Mayon from a safe distance.
Manager Ian Varona said there are precautions to take to ensure the safety of tourists but Mayon, one of the world’s wonders, should not be feared.
He said letting tourism thrive will help boost the local economy, generate more jobs and bring long-term benefits.
Losses suffered
Political economist Carl Ala of the University of the Philippines-Manila, who is now based in Bicol, said that increased business revenues because of the Mayon eruption were still nothing compared to the losses suffered.
“We should also see the calamity’s damage to crops. Many farmers were not able to harvest. The government’s relief spending amounts to P1.5 million daily,” Ala said.
Salceda, who earlier said that disaster tourism was not one of his government’s development strategies, estimated that 75,000 tourists came to Albay in December alone.
This one-month figure has already surpassed the number of tourists that arrived in the province in 2008, he said. With a report from Agence France-Presse
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sun-dried beef tapa cooks in just seconds
By Ephraim Aguilar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:16:00 04/26/2009
INQUIRER.net
MASBATE CITY, Philippines -- Breakfast that cooks in just seconds.
This is what the business of Mariano Natural, 53, and wife Mercy, 55, is all about. They manufacture and sell tasty beef tapa that cooks in as fast as three seconds.
Tapa is a mainstay on the Filipino breakfast table. It is meat cut in thin slices and cured with salt and spices to preserve it.
The word “tapa” is associated with smoked fish, which is natively called “tinapa.” It is usually fried or grilled and served with “achara” or pickles.
The couple’s beef tapa is not just cured with salt and spices but is also sun-dried. Cooking it is faster than driving through the nearest fast-food restaurant to have your fill before you go to work.
This homemade tapa has started to reach places through trade fairs organized by the Department of Trade and Industry in Metro Manila and by word of mouth.
There are balikbayan and overseas workers, like those from Saudi Arabia and Germany, who have placed orders to bring with them this tasty meat abroad.
In a government-sponsored trade fair at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay reportedly ordered 20 kilograms of beef tapa from the Natural couple.
Longganisa
The couple works out of Barangay Tugbo here, which is about 15-minute tricycle drive from the Masbate port. They started with making and selling homemade longganisa to augment Mariano’s income as a fisherman and vendor.
He is the president of the Masbate Fish Vendors’ Association.
“We thought if we’re going to engage in business, it had to be related to food,” Mariano said. “It is a common need and will never run out of demand.”
He added that Mercy thought of making homemade longganisa with a P10,000-capital. The new business had fair sales and ran smoothly.
After Mercy attended government-sponsored training programs, she learned how to create other products like beef tapa, pork tapa, and bamboo shoot pickles.
This was the humble start of what later would become the Nomer’s Masbate Meat Processing.
The home-based company now earns at least P100,000 in net income in a week and is seeking to become a household name, hoping to tap the export market.
Ranches
Touted as the rodeo capital of the Philippines, Masbate is known for its ranches. Cattle-raising has been a long-running tradition in this island province.
The Natural couple sources out meat from local ranches, making sure the meat is fresh and of good quality.
The meat is marinated in special seasoning for more than 24 hours to lock in the flavor. Then it is sun-dried for an entire day and cut into strips.
The cut tapa is then vacuum-sealed in a pack and labeled.
The Mariano couple learned modern packaging techniques through programs of the DTI.
3 seconds
After the tapa has been dunked in heated oil, it will only take three seconds to cook it before it is ready for consumption.
Not only does the tapa cook very fast, it also has a long shelf-life.
“[The tapa can] last for five to six months, or even up to a year if kept frozen,” Mariano said.
Nomer’s beef tapa sells for P100 for every 125 grams, the pork tapa for P75, and the pickled bamboo shoots for P60 a bottle.
The tapa is also available in different flavors: sweet-spicy, salty, spicy, sweet.
Mercy said it would be necessary to add more flavor options since people’s tastes also vary.
She said she hopes they could export their products someday, but that they would need to first upgrade their facilities to increase production.
They also need to learn strategies on how to tap the foreign market.
She admitted that they still have a long way to go, adding that small Filipino entrepreneurs need to have continuous education and support from the government to enable their businesses to grow.
“We need a dehydrator so that when the sun doesn’t shine, we can still produce something,” Mercy said. “Today, we only rely on the natural heat of the sun to dry our meat.”
She said they are expecting to receive equipment grants from the Department of Science and Technology this year.
Nomer’s Masbate Meat Processing contact number is (0908) 566-9159.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:16:00 04/26/2009
INQUIRER.net
MASBATE CITY, Philippines -- Breakfast that cooks in just seconds.
This is what the business of Mariano Natural, 53, and wife Mercy, 55, is all about. They manufacture and sell tasty beef tapa that cooks in as fast as three seconds.
Tapa is a mainstay on the Filipino breakfast table. It is meat cut in thin slices and cured with salt and spices to preserve it.
The word “tapa” is associated with smoked fish, which is natively called “tinapa.” It is usually fried or grilled and served with “achara” or pickles.
The couple’s beef tapa is not just cured with salt and spices but is also sun-dried. Cooking it is faster than driving through the nearest fast-food restaurant to have your fill before you go to work.
This homemade tapa has started to reach places through trade fairs organized by the Department of Trade and Industry in Metro Manila and by word of mouth.
There are balikbayan and overseas workers, like those from Saudi Arabia and Germany, who have placed orders to bring with them this tasty meat abroad.
In a government-sponsored trade fair at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay reportedly ordered 20 kilograms of beef tapa from the Natural couple.
Longganisa
The couple works out of Barangay Tugbo here, which is about 15-minute tricycle drive from the Masbate port. They started with making and selling homemade longganisa to augment Mariano’s income as a fisherman and vendor.
He is the president of the Masbate Fish Vendors’ Association.
“We thought if we’re going to engage in business, it had to be related to food,” Mariano said. “It is a common need and will never run out of demand.”
He added that Mercy thought of making homemade longganisa with a P10,000-capital. The new business had fair sales and ran smoothly.
After Mercy attended government-sponsored training programs, she learned how to create other products like beef tapa, pork tapa, and bamboo shoot pickles.
This was the humble start of what later would become the Nomer’s Masbate Meat Processing.
The home-based company now earns at least P100,000 in net income in a week and is seeking to become a household name, hoping to tap the export market.
Ranches
Touted as the rodeo capital of the Philippines, Masbate is known for its ranches. Cattle-raising has been a long-running tradition in this island province.
The Natural couple sources out meat from local ranches, making sure the meat is fresh and of good quality.
The meat is marinated in special seasoning for more than 24 hours to lock in the flavor. Then it is sun-dried for an entire day and cut into strips.
The cut tapa is then vacuum-sealed in a pack and labeled.
The Mariano couple learned modern packaging techniques through programs of the DTI.
3 seconds
After the tapa has been dunked in heated oil, it will only take three seconds to cook it before it is ready for consumption.
Not only does the tapa cook very fast, it also has a long shelf-life.
“[The tapa can] last for five to six months, or even up to a year if kept frozen,” Mariano said.
Nomer’s beef tapa sells for P100 for every 125 grams, the pork tapa for P75, and the pickled bamboo shoots for P60 a bottle.
The tapa is also available in different flavors: sweet-spicy, salty, spicy, sweet.
Mercy said it would be necessary to add more flavor options since people’s tastes also vary.
She said she hopes they could export their products someday, but that they would need to first upgrade their facilities to increase production.
They also need to learn strategies on how to tap the foreign market.
She admitted that they still have a long way to go, adding that small Filipino entrepreneurs need to have continuous education and support from the government to enable their businesses to grow.
“We need a dehydrator so that when the sun doesn’t shine, we can still produce something,” Mercy said. “Today, we only rely on the natural heat of the sun to dry our meat.”
She said they are expecting to receive equipment grants from the Department of Science and Technology this year.
Nomer’s Masbate Meat Processing contact number is (0908) 566-9159.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Banking on good name to attain success
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
DARAGA, ALBAY--Wendy Destacamento, 55, a local producer of processed meat, knows that her products are of the best quality simply because her own grandchildren eat them.
Wendy, a grandmother of three, says there is nothing as reliable as what’s cooking in your mother’s kitchen—a familiar taste that never jades the appetite.
“We earned our buyers’ trust by our “lutong-bahay” (home-cooked) reputation,” Wendy says. “We ensure the quality of our products since they’re what we eat, and they’re what our own grandchildren eat.”
Wendy and her husband Oscar, 60, have been locally producing fresh cut and processed meat products in Albay province through Juanito’s Meat and Marinated Products—a homegrown company they put up 24 years ago.
It started in 1985 with a meager capital of P1,500. The couple would sell fresh pork to friends. That eventually led to the establishment of an outlet in this town’s public market. Later, another branch opened in a more strategic place in Legazpi City.
Oscar says that since locally processed meat products cater only to smaller areas requiring shorter freezing time, they are free from harmful preservatives.
Juanito’s Meat has since expanded, producing other meat products as well, such as hotdog, ham, meat loaf, luncheon meat, corned beef, smoked hamonado, foot-long sausage, bologna, embutido, burger patties and lumpia shanghai.
Oscar says Juanito’s does not use genetically engineered or modified organisms or additives in their products. It also uses organic color such as paprika or “paminton.”
He adds they do not use dumped or cheap meat from other countries. Juanito’s products have also been fortified with anticarcinogenic properties and Vitamin C.
The Destacamento couple has never been daunted even if Juanito’s sits alongside other popular meat brands in shopping mall freezers in the cities of Legazpi and Lucena.
Juanito’s may not have put out advertisements on TV or newspapers, but it has a loyal clientele whose number has grown through the years by word of mouth.
“People who have tested the quality of our products eventually become our loyal buyers,” says Wendy. “And they tell their friends about us, too.”
She says locally processed meat products are more fresh since it is intended for smaller communities and is expected to reach consumers soon after production, thus requiring no artificial preservatives.
After the scare that gripped the world when some food products imported from China were reportedly contaminated with melamine—a white powder used in plastic-making harmful to human health—local food producers expected a boost in sales.
Oscar, who is also vice president of the Bicol Region Association of Meat Processors, says their sales increased by 15 percent after the China food scandal late last year.
However, Oscar adds that this boost in sales is still measly compared to profits and property lost to the “Supertyphoon Reming” in late 2006. The power outage that lasted for more than a month caused them to temporarily cease operations.
“We almost closed down our business,” Wendy says, recalling the tragedy. “We even told our workers they had to stop working for us, and when we gave them their separation pays, they didn’t want to take the money.”
It was then that Wendy realized they were “helping people earn a living ... and that we were also providing quality food to the locals, so we decided to press on no matter how hard it was.”
Another challenge faced by local meat processors is the limited market.
The couple says it really takes constant effort to maintain good product quality on which to build a good and trusted name. Only by doing so will the number of their loyal costumers grow.
(Juanito’s Meat may be reached at 0915-8246003.)
Inquirer Southern Luzon
DARAGA, ALBAY--Wendy Destacamento, 55, a local producer of processed meat, knows that her products are of the best quality simply because her own grandchildren eat them.
Wendy, a grandmother of three, says there is nothing as reliable as what’s cooking in your mother’s kitchen—a familiar taste that never jades the appetite.
“We earned our buyers’ trust by our “lutong-bahay” (home-cooked) reputation,” Wendy says. “We ensure the quality of our products since they’re what we eat, and they’re what our own grandchildren eat.”
Wendy and her husband Oscar, 60, have been locally producing fresh cut and processed meat products in Albay province through Juanito’s Meat and Marinated Products—a homegrown company they put up 24 years ago.
It started in 1985 with a meager capital of P1,500. The couple would sell fresh pork to friends. That eventually led to the establishment of an outlet in this town’s public market. Later, another branch opened in a more strategic place in Legazpi City.
Oscar says that since locally processed meat products cater only to smaller areas requiring shorter freezing time, they are free from harmful preservatives.
Juanito’s Meat has since expanded, producing other meat products as well, such as hotdog, ham, meat loaf, luncheon meat, corned beef, smoked hamonado, foot-long sausage, bologna, embutido, burger patties and lumpia shanghai.
Oscar says Juanito’s does not use genetically engineered or modified organisms or additives in their products. It also uses organic color such as paprika or “paminton.”
He adds they do not use dumped or cheap meat from other countries. Juanito’s products have also been fortified with anticarcinogenic properties and Vitamin C.
The Destacamento couple has never been daunted even if Juanito’s sits alongside other popular meat brands in shopping mall freezers in the cities of Legazpi and Lucena.
Juanito’s may not have put out advertisements on TV or newspapers, but it has a loyal clientele whose number has grown through the years by word of mouth.
“People who have tested the quality of our products eventually become our loyal buyers,” says Wendy. “And they tell their friends about us, too.”
She says locally processed meat products are more fresh since it is intended for smaller communities and is expected to reach consumers soon after production, thus requiring no artificial preservatives.
After the scare that gripped the world when some food products imported from China were reportedly contaminated with melamine—a white powder used in plastic-making harmful to human health—local food producers expected a boost in sales.
Oscar, who is also vice president of the Bicol Region Association of Meat Processors, says their sales increased by 15 percent after the China food scandal late last year.
However, Oscar adds that this boost in sales is still measly compared to profits and property lost to the “Supertyphoon Reming” in late 2006. The power outage that lasted for more than a month caused them to temporarily cease operations.
“We almost closed down our business,” Wendy says, recalling the tragedy. “We even told our workers they had to stop working for us, and when we gave them their separation pays, they didn’t want to take the money.”
It was then that Wendy realized they were “helping people earn a living ... and that we were also providing quality food to the locals, so we decided to press on no matter how hard it was.”
Another challenge faced by local meat processors is the limited market.
The couple says it really takes constant effort to maintain good product quality on which to build a good and trusted name. Only by doing so will the number of their loyal costumers grow.
(Juanito’s Meat may be reached at 0915-8246003.)
Sunday, November 02, 2008
GROWING UP WITHOUT TV
Brothers build dreams on handmade scrapbooks
Text and photos by Ephraim Aguilar, page B4
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
DARAGA, ALBAY— They say everyone is born with an artistic side. It is how these talents are honed at a young age that will spell the difference between adults with artistic flair and those without.
Baruga brothers Jhonmark, 19, and King George, 17, grew up in a home without television. Tinkering with art materials became their pastime. Thus they developed an eye for mixing colors and a hand for cutting shapes and putting pieces together to create an artwork.
“Our mother didn’t want a television set in our house and we didn’t know why. So most of the time we were busy doing artwork at home,” King George says.
Today, the Baruga brothers, who are both education students in Bicol University in Daraga, Albay, are gaining popularity among their peers for their artworks.
Their products? Handmade scrapbooks and greeting cards.
They have been invited to set up their own exhibits in different places in the Bicol region and have also been receiving individual and bulk orders of their handcrafts.
The Baruga brothers realized that their hobby had the potential of becoming a profitable enterprise.
They have already created over 70 scrapbook designs for their exhibits. The designs fall under themes or categories, among which are the “Four Seasons, Festivals, Coffee, Black and White, Emo (emotional hardcore) and Gold and Silver.”
While maintaining their grades as academic scholars, Jhonmark and King George manage to work on their handcrafts every week to meet orders.
The two have devised their own strategies on saving time and dividing tasks. King George is usually the thinker, while Jhonmark is more the doer.
Designs
“Themes and design concepts would usually come from me, that is my strength, while my brother is good at finishing touches,” King George says.
He adds that they could finish 50 scrapbooks in a day if the paper had already been cut and other accessories prepared in advance. They deliver orders within seven days.
In one of their exhibits at Bicol University here, a 30-piece order was placed by students from another university.
“It feels good that people are not just able to appreciate our work but also want to have our artworks as their own stuff,” Jhonmark says.
Aside from the common designs, the Baruga brothers also cater to personalized orders.
Two of the most saleable scrapbook varieties are the “Coffee” and “Four Seasons.”
The “Coffee” scrapbooks come in shades of brown and are literally made of coffee. The covers and pages have been brushed with liquid coffee creating a vibrant brown and a pleasing aroma.
The “Four Seasons” collection has four items designed after winter, spring, summer and fall. They come as collector’s items or a boxed set.
Scrapbook prices range from P75 to P500 depending on the size, the design and the materials to be used. Customized items are a little more expensive than the ready-made ones.
“Scrapbooks in commercial establishments would range from P225 to P1,000 and they are bare. But the companies manufacturing them would sell accessories separately, which are more costly,” says King George.
Personalized scrapbooks come in various forms and shapes. One of them came in the shape of a guitar or a dress, reflecting their owners’ interests in music and in fashion.
“Designs are limitless. We create just almost anything, whatever people want,” Jhonmark says.
The regular size of a scrapbook is 9 inches by 5 in. The prices of handmade greeting cards range from P5 to P30, depending on the size and design. The brothers also sell personalized picture frames and boxes.
Most of these products are made from indigenous materials—from dried and dyed hay, abaca fiber, seeds, flowers, feathers, leaves, shells, scrap paper, cloth and other objects picked from just anywhere then recycled.
Dream
Since childhood, the Baruga brothers already showed signs of entrepreneurship.
“When our teacher assigned projects, we would go to the city to shop for art materials and sold them to our classmates. We lived in a rural town where students seldom visit the city,” Jhonmark recounts.
King George says their parents, who were supportive of their interests and talents, gave them P10,000 to mount their first exhibit.
“We invested it in tools to make our work easier and faster. We want to pay our parents back once we have gained profit,” King George says.
King George says greeting cards and scrapbooks manufactured through advanced technology are still available in bookstores but can be quite expensive. And since they are mass produced, the designs are very common.
“We dream to become like Hallmark,” Jhonmark says, half seriously.
Hallmark is a century-old international company that produces greeting cards and keepsake ornaments.
Jhonmark adds that they envision to build a local company that will make available to the locals cheaper but stylish greeting cards and memory-keeping items.
Text and photos by Ephraim Aguilar, page B4
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
DARAGA, ALBAY— They say everyone is born with an artistic side. It is how these talents are honed at a young age that will spell the difference between adults with artistic flair and those without.
Baruga brothers Jhonmark, 19, and King George, 17, grew up in a home without television. Tinkering with art materials became their pastime. Thus they developed an eye for mixing colors and a hand for cutting shapes and putting pieces together to create an artwork.
“Our mother didn’t want a television set in our house and we didn’t know why. So most of the time we were busy doing artwork at home,” King George says.
Today, the Baruga brothers, who are both education students in Bicol University in Daraga, Albay, are gaining popularity among their peers for their artworks.
Their products? Handmade scrapbooks and greeting cards.
They have been invited to set up their own exhibits in different places in the Bicol region and have also been receiving individual and bulk orders of their handcrafts.
The Baruga brothers realized that their hobby had the potential of becoming a profitable enterprise.
They have already created over 70 scrapbook designs for their exhibits. The designs fall under themes or categories, among which are the “Four Seasons, Festivals, Coffee, Black and White, Emo (emotional hardcore) and Gold and Silver.”
While maintaining their grades as academic scholars, Jhonmark and King George manage to work on their handcrafts every week to meet orders.
The two have devised their own strategies on saving time and dividing tasks. King George is usually the thinker, while Jhonmark is more the doer.
Designs
“Themes and design concepts would usually come from me, that is my strength, while my brother is good at finishing touches,” King George says.
He adds that they could finish 50 scrapbooks in a day if the paper had already been cut and other accessories prepared in advance. They deliver orders within seven days.
In one of their exhibits at Bicol University here, a 30-piece order was placed by students from another university.
“It feels good that people are not just able to appreciate our work but also want to have our artworks as their own stuff,” Jhonmark says.
Aside from the common designs, the Baruga brothers also cater to personalized orders.
Two of the most saleable scrapbook varieties are the “Coffee” and “Four Seasons.”
The “Coffee” scrapbooks come in shades of brown and are literally made of coffee. The covers and pages have been brushed with liquid coffee creating a vibrant brown and a pleasing aroma.
The “Four Seasons” collection has four items designed after winter, spring, summer and fall. They come as collector’s items or a boxed set.
Scrapbook prices range from P75 to P500 depending on the size, the design and the materials to be used. Customized items are a little more expensive than the ready-made ones.
“Scrapbooks in commercial establishments would range from P225 to P1,000 and they are bare. But the companies manufacturing them would sell accessories separately, which are more costly,” says King George.
Personalized scrapbooks come in various forms and shapes. One of them came in the shape of a guitar or a dress, reflecting their owners’ interests in music and in fashion.
“Designs are limitless. We create just almost anything, whatever people want,” Jhonmark says.
The regular size of a scrapbook is 9 inches by 5 in. The prices of handmade greeting cards range from P5 to P30, depending on the size and design. The brothers also sell personalized picture frames and boxes.
Most of these products are made from indigenous materials—from dried and dyed hay, abaca fiber, seeds, flowers, feathers, leaves, shells, scrap paper, cloth and other objects picked from just anywhere then recycled.
Dream
Since childhood, the Baruga brothers already showed signs of entrepreneurship.
“When our teacher assigned projects, we would go to the city to shop for art materials and sold them to our classmates. We lived in a rural town where students seldom visit the city,” Jhonmark recounts.
King George says their parents, who were supportive of their interests and talents, gave them P10,000 to mount their first exhibit.
“We invested it in tools to make our work easier and faster. We want to pay our parents back once we have gained profit,” King George says.
King George says greeting cards and scrapbooks manufactured through advanced technology are still available in bookstores but can be quite expensive. And since they are mass produced, the designs are very common.
“We dream to become like Hallmark,” Jhonmark says, half seriously.
Hallmark is a century-old international company that produces greeting cards and keepsake ornaments.
Jhonmark adds that they envision to build a local company that will make available to the locals cheaper but stylish greeting cards and memory-keeping items.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
No more aching feet for ‘kakanin’ vendor
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.
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.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Steep steel prices cut into cutlery makers’ pockets
Text and photos by Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
TABACO CITY—CUTLERY MAKERS IN this city, who provide blood to an industry built by tradition, are bleeding profits due to skyrocketing prices of primary raw materials such coconut charcoal and hard steel.
For nearly a century now, blacksmiths in Barangay Cobo here have honed their craft to gain a reputation as the “best cutlery producers in the Bicol region and, probably, in the country.”
From its early days in 1919, cutlery-making is still very much alive in Barangay Cobo today.
One could hear the pounding and sharpening of steel in workshops adjacent to houses, where seasoned blacksmiths work at such speed and precision to be able to mass produce their products.
Emily Boncacas, 40, of Barangay Cobo has been in the cutlery business for 23 years now. She says her parents were her main influence in the business venture.
“I grew up seeing my father make scissors. It was our main livelihood. Through cutlery-making, he was able to send us to school,” says Boncacas.
Now married, Boncacas also put up her own cutlery shop. She has four workers who make scissors and grass cutters for her.
However determined to pursue this line of business, Boncacas says cutlery-making is being challenged by the country’s down economy.
She says the prices of raw materials have tremendously increased.
Steep prices
Hard steel from junk shops used to be P16 per kilogram during the 1990s but now, it ranges from P35 to P40 per kilo.
Coconut charcoal used to be P64 per sack but now it is worth P240 per sack.
Boncacas says gone are the glory days of their cutlery business.
“We could not just increase our prices because our buyers would run away,” says Boncacas.
She adds if they could only develop direct market links and even export, their industry might prosper again.
However, Boncacas says, they have no capital to be able to expand their production and to export.
She says cutlery-makers would now commonly rely on the “byahero,” a middleman who sells their products to other provinces in Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Metro Manila.
Russell Nieves, trade and industry development specialist of the Department of Trade and Industry in Albay, says cutlery makers should be able to tap the market directly.
Merchants vs producers
“Prices of cutlery are controlled by merchants. Cash and material advances are given by wholesalers to suppliers, thus, the latter are tied up and could not demand for higher prices,” Nieves says.
He adds that the wholesalers usually get a margin of between 30 and 50 percent, leaving manufacturers a small profit of 5 to 10 percent.
Nieves is the coordinator for the Tabaco cutlery under DTI’s One Town, One Product (Otop) program. Cutlery is Tabaco City’s town product and is celebrated annually through the city’s Tabak Festival.
“Tabak” is a native word meaning “bolo,” from which the city’s name was derived.
The Cobo blacksmiths or the Samahan ng Manggagawang Panday sa Tabaco Inc. (Samapat) is composed of 31 producers of handcrafted cutlery.
Nieves says the association’s monthly product capacity is 7,570 pairs of scissors, 4,980 bolos, 50 samurais, 10,560 knives, 100 pieces grass cutters, and 500 razors.
He says the industry association employs at least 144 workers and the asset size of every cutlery shop ranges from P20,000 to P400,000.
Nieves says the association produces the finest handcrafted cutlery in Bicol, but local producers need to learn product and market development.
He says there is a need for new ethnic designs for scabbards, a generic trademark or brand, fiber glass-based handles, and a common production center where products could be standardized and branded.
The city government has given P100,000 for raw materials and more than P400,000 for the construction of a common workshop facility. The association also plans to put up its own display center.
Edgardo Cedro, president of Samapat Inc. and owner of ABC cutlery, says one thing that keeps Tabaco’s priced industry alive is quality.
“Our local cutlery is better than imported ones, which are cheaper but are not durable,” says Cedro, who recounts cutlery-making was already a running tradition when he was born. The 48-year-old man believes he shall never see its demise.
Inquirer Southern Luzon
TABACO CITY—CUTLERY MAKERS IN this city, who provide blood to an industry built by tradition, are bleeding profits due to skyrocketing prices of primary raw materials such coconut charcoal and hard steel.
For nearly a century now, blacksmiths in Barangay Cobo here have honed their craft to gain a reputation as the “best cutlery producers in the Bicol region and, probably, in the country.”
From its early days in 1919, cutlery-making is still very much alive in Barangay Cobo today.
One could hear the pounding and sharpening of steel in workshops adjacent to houses, where seasoned blacksmiths work at such speed and precision to be able to mass produce their products.
Emily Boncacas, 40, of Barangay Cobo has been in the cutlery business for 23 years now. She says her parents were her main influence in the business venture.
“I grew up seeing my father make scissors. It was our main livelihood. Through cutlery-making, he was able to send us to school,” says Boncacas.
Now married, Boncacas also put up her own cutlery shop. She has four workers who make scissors and grass cutters for her.
However determined to pursue this line of business, Boncacas says cutlery-making is being challenged by the country’s down economy.
She says the prices of raw materials have tremendously increased.
Steep prices
Hard steel from junk shops used to be P16 per kilogram during the 1990s but now, it ranges from P35 to P40 per kilo.
Coconut charcoal used to be P64 per sack but now it is worth P240 per sack.
Boncacas says gone are the glory days of their cutlery business.
“We could not just increase our prices because our buyers would run away,” says Boncacas.
She adds if they could only develop direct market links and even export, their industry might prosper again.
However, Boncacas says, they have no capital to be able to expand their production and to export.
She says cutlery-makers would now commonly rely on the “byahero,” a middleman who sells their products to other provinces in Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Metro Manila.
Russell Nieves, trade and industry development specialist of the Department of Trade and Industry in Albay, says cutlery makers should be able to tap the market directly.
Merchants vs producers
“Prices of cutlery are controlled by merchants. Cash and material advances are given by wholesalers to suppliers, thus, the latter are tied up and could not demand for higher prices,” Nieves says.
He adds that the wholesalers usually get a margin of between 30 and 50 percent, leaving manufacturers a small profit of 5 to 10 percent.
Nieves is the coordinator for the Tabaco cutlery under DTI’s One Town, One Product (Otop) program. Cutlery is Tabaco City’s town product and is celebrated annually through the city’s Tabak Festival.
“Tabak” is a native word meaning “bolo,” from which the city’s name was derived.
The Cobo blacksmiths or the Samahan ng Manggagawang Panday sa Tabaco Inc. (Samapat) is composed of 31 producers of handcrafted cutlery.
Nieves says the association’s monthly product capacity is 7,570 pairs of scissors, 4,980 bolos, 50 samurais, 10,560 knives, 100 pieces grass cutters, and 500 razors.
He says the industry association employs at least 144 workers and the asset size of every cutlery shop ranges from P20,000 to P400,000.
Nieves says the association produces the finest handcrafted cutlery in Bicol, but local producers need to learn product and market development.
He says there is a need for new ethnic designs for scabbards, a generic trademark or brand, fiber glass-based handles, and a common production center where products could be standardized and branded.
The city government has given P100,000 for raw materials and more than P400,000 for the construction of a common workshop facility. The association also plans to put up its own display center.
Edgardo Cedro, president of Samapat Inc. and owner of ABC cutlery, says one thing that keeps Tabaco’s priced industry alive is quality.
“Our local cutlery is better than imported ones, which are cheaper but are not durable,” says Cedro, who recounts cutlery-making was already a running tradition when he was born. The 48-year-old man believes he shall never see its demise.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Mothers turn garbage into ‘garbags’
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
STO. DOMINGO, ALBAY—WITH a mother’s touch, garbage foil and plastic sheets transform into colorful, fashionable, and useful bags in Barangay Salvacion here.
Wittily labeled “Garbags,” coined from the words “garbage” and “bags,” these recycled handicrafts are being made by members of the Barangay Salvacion Mothers’ Club.
The mothers only started making the bags last October.
The idea of making bags out of trash was conceived in a handicraft contest organized by the club during the village fiesta last year.
Formed in 2005, the club would also hold mothers’ classes every two weeks on different issues—nutrition, child care, gardening, food preparation, health, and child discipline.
Glenda Newhall, the club’s adviser, says beautiful designs emerged out of pieces of garbage, which the villagers turned into hats, slippers and bags.
“The items made out of recycled materials, like foil and plastic packs, turned out to be beautiful and we thought they were salable. This motivated the mothers to make bags for a living,” Newhall says.
Families in Barangay Salvacion needed an alternative source of income following the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Reming,” which devastated agricultural lands.
The villagers, mostly farmers and fishermen, lost regular income since agricultural products like coconut and anahaw would take time to recover fully. The destroyed fishing boats could not be immediately replaced.
The housewives found hope in making bags out of recycled materials.
Product prices range from P50 for a wallet to P300 for an abaca sando bag.
Myrna Belardo, 43, mothers’ club vice chair, says making bags also allows housewives to share their thoughts and talents.
Many hands work together to craft just one bag.
“We have different skills. One may be good in cutting, another may be good in sewing, while still another may be good in weaving. We combine all our talents to create our products,” Belardo, a mother of five children, says in Filipino.
Through making bags, the housewives developed closer ties.
Newhall says that since some of the mothers used to weave “banig” while others used to work in “patahian,” they are skilled even without formal training.
Belardo says they design and make the bags themselves.
Anita Revadavia says the mothers would treat their work as an enjoyable hobby.
Work starts at 8 a.m. at Barangay Salvacion’s multipurpose center. This favors some mothers, whose children are attending day care classes in the adjacent room.
“Some of us would also work at home, once we have finished the household chores. We don’t waste time because we dream of bulk orders someday,” Revadavia says.
Newhall says the biggest challenge they are facing is tapping the export market.
“This kind of product has great market potentials in other countries because of its novelty. We also eye on overseas Filipino workers as potential market,” Newhall says.
Belardo says the bestsellers are the useful grocery bags, which are made of juice packs and the fashionable shoulder bags accentuated with abaca.
She says every batch of “Garbags” were sold out to personal contacts and foreigners.
“We hope to have our own place downtown or in Legazpi City, so that our products will be known to many,” Belardo says.
Saving the environment
While the mothers earn extra from making bags out of recycled materials, they also help save the environment.
A retired nurse, Newhall says she has seen that improper waste management has been choking their rivers, polluting their beaches, creating breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects.
“The children would commonly have respiratory problems due to fumes of burning garbage,” says Newhall, who opened a free clinic for the Salvacion villagers.
“Garbags,” says Newhall, has four goals: to boost the income of families, to recycle and reuse trash, to empower women, and to enable the mothers to develop and manage their own business.
Inquirer Southern Luzon
STO. DOMINGO, ALBAY—WITH a mother’s touch, garbage foil and plastic sheets transform into colorful, fashionable, and useful bags in Barangay Salvacion here.
Wittily labeled “Garbags,” coined from the words “garbage” and “bags,” these recycled handicrafts are being made by members of the Barangay Salvacion Mothers’ Club.
The mothers only started making the bags last October.
The idea of making bags out of trash was conceived in a handicraft contest organized by the club during the village fiesta last year.
Formed in 2005, the club would also hold mothers’ classes every two weeks on different issues—nutrition, child care, gardening, food preparation, health, and child discipline.
Glenda Newhall, the club’s adviser, says beautiful designs emerged out of pieces of garbage, which the villagers turned into hats, slippers and bags.
“The items made out of recycled materials, like foil and plastic packs, turned out to be beautiful and we thought they were salable. This motivated the mothers to make bags for a living,” Newhall says.
Families in Barangay Salvacion needed an alternative source of income following the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Reming,” which devastated agricultural lands.
The villagers, mostly farmers and fishermen, lost regular income since agricultural products like coconut and anahaw would take time to recover fully. The destroyed fishing boats could not be immediately replaced.
The housewives found hope in making bags out of recycled materials.
Product prices range from P50 for a wallet to P300 for an abaca sando bag.
Myrna Belardo, 43, mothers’ club vice chair, says making bags also allows housewives to share their thoughts and talents.
Many hands work together to craft just one bag.
“We have different skills. One may be good in cutting, another may be good in sewing, while still another may be good in weaving. We combine all our talents to create our products,” Belardo, a mother of five children, says in Filipino.
Through making bags, the housewives developed closer ties.
Newhall says that since some of the mothers used to weave “banig” while others used to work in “patahian,” they are skilled even without formal training.
Belardo says they design and make the bags themselves.
Anita Revadavia says the mothers would treat their work as an enjoyable hobby.
Work starts at 8 a.m. at Barangay Salvacion’s multipurpose center. This favors some mothers, whose children are attending day care classes in the adjacent room.
“Some of us would also work at home, once we have finished the household chores. We don’t waste time because we dream of bulk orders someday,” Revadavia says.
Newhall says the biggest challenge they are facing is tapping the export market.
“This kind of product has great market potentials in other countries because of its novelty. We also eye on overseas Filipino workers as potential market,” Newhall says.
Belardo says the bestsellers are the useful grocery bags, which are made of juice packs and the fashionable shoulder bags accentuated with abaca.
She says every batch of “Garbags” were sold out to personal contacts and foreigners.
“We hope to have our own place downtown or in Legazpi City, so that our products will be known to many,” Belardo says.
Saving the environment
While the mothers earn extra from making bags out of recycled materials, they also help save the environment.
A retired nurse, Newhall says she has seen that improper waste management has been choking their rivers, polluting their beaches, creating breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects.
“The children would commonly have respiratory problems due to fumes of burning garbage,” says Newhall, who opened a free clinic for the Salvacion villagers.
“Garbags,” says Newhall, has four goals: to boost the income of families, to recycle and reuse trash, to empower women, and to enable the mothers to develop and manage their own business.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Spa regimen now includes Bicol’s ‘pili’ fruit
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
PILI, Camarines Sur--The country’s growing spa phenomenon continues to discover ways to natural wellness and the cutting-edge regimen in a newly opened spa here makes use of Bicol’s pili fruit in giving a restful experience to spa-goers.
Adding to its branches in Tagaytay, Puerto Galera and Pampanga, the award-winning Nurture Spa opened its fourth branch at the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) here last week in time for the 3rd Philippine Cable Wakeboard Nationals.
After a long, vexed day spent in extreme sports, “extreme indulgence” in revitalizing spa treatments may not just be a luxury but a necessity.
This need for a haven of rest in an active environment such as the CWC leads to a bankable niche for Nurture Spa.
“We’ve heard so much about the CWC, which we know is the big thing now. We wanted to be here because, basically, we have the same market—the young and energetic crowd. We think spa and wakeboarding are very complementary to each other,” says Cathy Brillantes-Turvill, Nurture Spa’s chief executive officer.
One of the pioneers in the Philippine spa industry accredited by the Department of Tourism, this spa chain offers a range of regional treatments that use local ingredients grown from where its branches are located.
In Tagaytay, where coffee is a main product, Nurture Spa created the Kape Barako Coffee Scrub (P1,500). The rich aroma of coffee invigorates the senses as much as the skin.
“What makes Nurture Spa unique is that, when we open a branch, we make sure that we first do a research on the traditional healing treatments available in region, then we come up with a spa-like equivalent for them,” Brillantes-Turvill says.
For its Bicol branch, the Nurture Spa explored the use of pili (Canarium ovatum), which is abundantly grown in the region and is considered as Bicol’s “flagship commodity,” according to the Department of Agriculture.
The region accounts for 82 percent of national pili production, the bulk of which comes from Sorsogon province, which is tagged by the Department of Trade and Industry as the “commodity champion” for pili.
“Pili is an excellent antioxidant. It has good moisturizing properties. It is rich in vitamin E. What we do is we crush it to extract its wonderful properties,” Brillantes-Turvill says.
The pili fruit is a drupe lined with a thin, smooth and shiny covering.
At the core of this fruit is a nut tagged as the Philippine’s almond and boasts to be at par with Australia’s macadamia nut.
The only known fruit oil of commercial importance in the world market today are olive and palm oils but the pili kernel is another oil source with a big market potential of good use in the manufacture of soaps, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, data from DTI-Bicol revealed.
Spa menu
In Nurture Spa, pili is being used here as a component in services like facials, body scrubs and body wraps.
The one-hour “El Ray Malumoy Facial” (P1,200) is a natural relaxing facial of honey, pili and yogurt capped with a soothing mask of cucumber aloe vera and an acupressure facial massage.
Brillantes-Turvill says it is perfect in softening and moisturizing sun-burned and wind-hissed skin.
The one-hour Daraga Pili Polish (P1,200) is an exfoliating pili scrub that removes dead skin followed by a mini massage using rich moisturizing aloe vera and coco-butter base.
The Magayon Coco Pili Body Cocoon (P1,200) is one-hour nourishing wrap using fresh squeezed virgin coconut milk and mashed pili nuts bursting with vitamins and minerals.
Nurture Spa also offers packages composed of three treatments for three hours costing from P1,600 to P3,700 and an ultimate spa experience called “Maharlikang Lubos (Royal Pampering)” for P4,400 complete with five treatments for three and a half hours.
Brillantes-Turvill, president of the Spa Association of the Philippines, also says they created a CWC-signature treatment, especially designed for wakeboarders, called the 90-minute “Ni-laib Herbal Pouch Massage” (P1,500).
In this form of treatment, aching muscles are massaged with steaming hot pouches of traditional Filipinos herbs wrapped in banana leaves.
Brillantes-Turvill says what is important in Nurture Spa is that their therapists are hired from local communities and are selected on the basis of their “healing attitude.”
Inquirer Southern Luzon
PILI, Camarines Sur--The country’s growing spa phenomenon continues to discover ways to natural wellness and the cutting-edge regimen in a newly opened spa here makes use of Bicol’s pili fruit in giving a restful experience to spa-goers.
Adding to its branches in Tagaytay, Puerto Galera and Pampanga, the award-winning Nurture Spa opened its fourth branch at the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) here last week in time for the 3rd Philippine Cable Wakeboard Nationals.
After a long, vexed day spent in extreme sports, “extreme indulgence” in revitalizing spa treatments may not just be a luxury but a necessity.
This need for a haven of rest in an active environment such as the CWC leads to a bankable niche for Nurture Spa.
“We’ve heard so much about the CWC, which we know is the big thing now. We wanted to be here because, basically, we have the same market—the young and energetic crowd. We think spa and wakeboarding are very complementary to each other,” says Cathy Brillantes-Turvill, Nurture Spa’s chief executive officer.
One of the pioneers in the Philippine spa industry accredited by the Department of Tourism, this spa chain offers a range of regional treatments that use local ingredients grown from where its branches are located.
In Tagaytay, where coffee is a main product, Nurture Spa created the Kape Barako Coffee Scrub (P1,500). The rich aroma of coffee invigorates the senses as much as the skin.
“What makes Nurture Spa unique is that, when we open a branch, we make sure that we first do a research on the traditional healing treatments available in region, then we come up with a spa-like equivalent for them,” Brillantes-Turvill says.
For its Bicol branch, the Nurture Spa explored the use of pili (Canarium ovatum), which is abundantly grown in the region and is considered as Bicol’s “flagship commodity,” according to the Department of Agriculture.
The region accounts for 82 percent of national pili production, the bulk of which comes from Sorsogon province, which is tagged by the Department of Trade and Industry as the “commodity champion” for pili.
“Pili is an excellent antioxidant. It has good moisturizing properties. It is rich in vitamin E. What we do is we crush it to extract its wonderful properties,” Brillantes-Turvill says.
The pili fruit is a drupe lined with a thin, smooth and shiny covering.
At the core of this fruit is a nut tagged as the Philippine’s almond and boasts to be at par with Australia’s macadamia nut.
The only known fruit oil of commercial importance in the world market today are olive and palm oils but the pili kernel is another oil source with a big market potential of good use in the manufacture of soaps, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, data from DTI-Bicol revealed.
Spa menu
In Nurture Spa, pili is being used here as a component in services like facials, body scrubs and body wraps.
The one-hour “El Ray Malumoy Facial” (P1,200) is a natural relaxing facial of honey, pili and yogurt capped with a soothing mask of cucumber aloe vera and an acupressure facial massage.
Brillantes-Turvill says it is perfect in softening and moisturizing sun-burned and wind-hissed skin.
The one-hour Daraga Pili Polish (P1,200) is an exfoliating pili scrub that removes dead skin followed by a mini massage using rich moisturizing aloe vera and coco-butter base.
The Magayon Coco Pili Body Cocoon (P1,200) is one-hour nourishing wrap using fresh squeezed virgin coconut milk and mashed pili nuts bursting with vitamins and minerals.
Nurture Spa also offers packages composed of three treatments for three hours costing from P1,600 to P3,700 and an ultimate spa experience called “Maharlikang Lubos (Royal Pampering)” for P4,400 complete with five treatments for three and a half hours.
Brillantes-Turvill, president of the Spa Association of the Philippines, also says they created a CWC-signature treatment, especially designed for wakeboarders, called the 90-minute “Ni-laib Herbal Pouch Massage” (P1,500).
In this form of treatment, aching muscles are massaged with steaming hot pouches of traditional Filipinos herbs wrapped in banana leaves.
Brillantes-Turvill says what is important in Nurture Spa is that their therapists are hired from local communities and are selected on the basis of their “healing attitude.”
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
In Bicol, poor housewives are No. 1 buyers
10 April 2006
By Ephraim Aguilar
PDI Southern Luzon Bureau
DARAGA, ALBAY—THE WOMAN does not mind the sweat streaming down her face as she picks from a pool of fabrics she calls a “bargain.”
She is another mother shopping for an affordable “find” that would give a touch of elan to her or her kids’ wardrobes. Put another way, she is one of the “worshippers” of the “ukay-ukay” that lurk in profitable corners of this town.
Shopkeepers
“Wagwag” or ukay-ukay, a colloquial term derived from the Filipino word “halukay,” which means to forage through a heap in search of something, has encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit in a number of shopkeepers here.
Shopowners welcome the lower-incomed to their stores that sell used clothes from countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
The stores welcome the “bargain-hunters” seeking clothes for as low as P2 to P10, which cater mainly to the masses. These clothes are usually those that are not displayed in ukay-ukay stores, meaning they are the less standard ones, and are just placed on the “bargain table.”
This table of bargain clothes is always present among ukay-ukay vendors.
Mariel Mapalo, an ukay-ukay owner in Daraga town, about six kilometers from downtown Legazpi City, says most of her customers flock the “bargain table” more than any other set of items in her store, and most people who buy come from the poor.
In Daraga, there are at least 16 ukay-ukay establishments located just alongside the wet market area where the smell of clothes and dried fish mix.
These ukay-ukay are far from the tiangges that, although they sell second-hand products, manage to maintain well-kept stores.
Here, you can even see some pieces of bargain clothes on the soil and the storekeepers do not bother picking them up.
Most saleable
The first thing vendors here would display are blouses, commonly ranging from P10 to about P50, given the fact that most customers are women. Next in line are shorts, ranging from P10 to P50.
“Since most of the buyers here are the masses, we cannot mark up our prices that much,” Mapalo says.
Bags and shoes are the most expensive ukay-ukay items and the least sold. Prices of bags range from P50-P150 while those of the shoes range from P30 to P1,200.
Asked which of the brands are most saleable, Mapalo says people, especially the impoverished ones, are not really particular with the brands anymore.
She adds that seldom does she find famous signature clothes from the bulk delivered to her from Manila.
“In this business, the bulk of clothes are sealed when they are delivered, so you don’t get to choose which items you are going to sell. We rely on fate, hoping that we get the good box all the time,” Mapalo claims.
Katrina Urutia, a fresh graduate from the Bicol University, used to shop at the ukay-ukay here during her college years. Her group of eight would shop during weekends.
“It was the time when new bulks of clothes arrived. That is what they call them bagong wagwag (new releases),” the 20-year-old student recalls. “I had never been particular with the brand. I was after good quality and the overall look and feel.”
Business side
Mapalo, a mother of two children, and who has been in the business for almost eight years now, started with a P2,000 capital, which she loaned from a friend.
Now her daily earnings range from P360 to P5,000, while daily rent for her store is P180. She also has to pay for electricity.
Mapalo adds that her income from the ukay-ukay is only to subsidize their family’s food and other necessities. The schooling of her two children, both enrolled in private schools here, is being taken cared of by her husband’s parents now living in the US.
To start an ukay-ukay business here, one has to purchase a bulk of ukay-ukay products being shuttled from Manila. A bulk of 46 kilos would amount to P1,800-P4,500 while a bulk of 100 kilos would amount to P8,000-P17,000.
There is a tight competition among ukay-ukay establishments in the market. Some stores drop prices just to have cash to pay bills.
The peak season of sales in ukay-ukay here is December. Low months are August to September.
Mapalo opens her store at around 6:30 a.m. and closes it at around 5 p.m.
Filipino society
Prof. Eddie Balunso of the Bicol University (BU) Sociology Department says the need to change one’s look is one reason why Filipinos patronize the ukay-ukay.
“Some people want to look like their idols and the only way they can afford a similar look is through the ukay-ukay,” Balunso says.
Vendors agree there are more women buying ukay-ukay items than men. Balunso says most of her customers are housewives who buy clothes for themselves and their children.
Dr. Dolly Laguilles, chair of the BU Sociology Department, explains this as the “feminization of poverty,” which means that the women, the predominant ukay-ukay buyers, are the ones affected by poverty firsthand.
Even in ukay-ukays, there is a reflection of class struggle.
“The ukay-ukay caters to all sectors, including the middle class and the well-off. But the poor buy the rejects. Here you can see that there is still the stratification of society even in ukay-ukays,” Laguilles says.
The ukay-ukay, though it serves as a coping mechanism to poverty and helps those who cannot afford to buy expensive clothes, has a downside.
Balunso, who is taking up Master of Arts in Sociology at the Ateneo de Manila University, says the existence of ukay-ukays is detrimental to local producers.
There is a stereotype association of the ukay-ukay to imported items. Thus at work here is the colonial mentality in Filipinos.
However, Balunso says it is not really colonial mentality at work, but simply, the money. Or the lack of it.
By Ephraim Aguilar
PDI Southern Luzon Bureau
DARAGA, ALBAY—THE WOMAN does not mind the sweat streaming down her face as she picks from a pool of fabrics she calls a “bargain.”
She is another mother shopping for an affordable “find” that would give a touch of elan to her or her kids’ wardrobes. Put another way, she is one of the “worshippers” of the “ukay-ukay” that lurk in profitable corners of this town.
Shopkeepers
“Wagwag” or ukay-ukay, a colloquial term derived from the Filipino word “halukay,” which means to forage through a heap in search of something, has encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit in a number of shopkeepers here.
Shopowners welcome the lower-incomed to their stores that sell used clothes from countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
The stores welcome the “bargain-hunters” seeking clothes for as low as P2 to P10, which cater mainly to the masses. These clothes are usually those that are not displayed in ukay-ukay stores, meaning they are the less standard ones, and are just placed on the “bargain table.”
This table of bargain clothes is always present among ukay-ukay vendors.
Mariel Mapalo, an ukay-ukay owner in Daraga town, about six kilometers from downtown Legazpi City, says most of her customers flock the “bargain table” more than any other set of items in her store, and most people who buy come from the poor.
In Daraga, there are at least 16 ukay-ukay establishments located just alongside the wet market area where the smell of clothes and dried fish mix.
These ukay-ukay are far from the tiangges that, although they sell second-hand products, manage to maintain well-kept stores.
Here, you can even see some pieces of bargain clothes on the soil and the storekeepers do not bother picking them up.
Most saleable
The first thing vendors here would display are blouses, commonly ranging from P10 to about P50, given the fact that most customers are women. Next in line are shorts, ranging from P10 to P50.
“Since most of the buyers here are the masses, we cannot mark up our prices that much,” Mapalo says.
Bags and shoes are the most expensive ukay-ukay items and the least sold. Prices of bags range from P50-P150 while those of the shoes range from P30 to P1,200.
Asked which of the brands are most saleable, Mapalo says people, especially the impoverished ones, are not really particular with the brands anymore.
She adds that seldom does she find famous signature clothes from the bulk delivered to her from Manila.
“In this business, the bulk of clothes are sealed when they are delivered, so you don’t get to choose which items you are going to sell. We rely on fate, hoping that we get the good box all the time,” Mapalo claims.
Katrina Urutia, a fresh graduate from the Bicol University, used to shop at the ukay-ukay here during her college years. Her group of eight would shop during weekends.
“It was the time when new bulks of clothes arrived. That is what they call them bagong wagwag (new releases),” the 20-year-old student recalls. “I had never been particular with the brand. I was after good quality and the overall look and feel.”
Business side
Mapalo, a mother of two children, and who has been in the business for almost eight years now, started with a P2,000 capital, which she loaned from a friend.
Now her daily earnings range from P360 to P5,000, while daily rent for her store is P180. She also has to pay for electricity.
Mapalo adds that her income from the ukay-ukay is only to subsidize their family’s food and other necessities. The schooling of her two children, both enrolled in private schools here, is being taken cared of by her husband’s parents now living in the US.
To start an ukay-ukay business here, one has to purchase a bulk of ukay-ukay products being shuttled from Manila. A bulk of 46 kilos would amount to P1,800-P4,500 while a bulk of 100 kilos would amount to P8,000-P17,000.
There is a tight competition among ukay-ukay establishments in the market. Some stores drop prices just to have cash to pay bills.
The peak season of sales in ukay-ukay here is December. Low months are August to September.
Mapalo opens her store at around 6:30 a.m. and closes it at around 5 p.m.
Filipino society
Prof. Eddie Balunso of the Bicol University (BU) Sociology Department says the need to change one’s look is one reason why Filipinos patronize the ukay-ukay.
“Some people want to look like their idols and the only way they can afford a similar look is through the ukay-ukay,” Balunso says.
Vendors agree there are more women buying ukay-ukay items than men. Balunso says most of her customers are housewives who buy clothes for themselves and their children.
Dr. Dolly Laguilles, chair of the BU Sociology Department, explains this as the “feminization of poverty,” which means that the women, the predominant ukay-ukay buyers, are the ones affected by poverty firsthand.
Even in ukay-ukays, there is a reflection of class struggle.
“The ukay-ukay caters to all sectors, including the middle class and the well-off. But the poor buy the rejects. Here you can see that there is still the stratification of society even in ukay-ukays,” Laguilles says.
The ukay-ukay, though it serves as a coping mechanism to poverty and helps those who cannot afford to buy expensive clothes, has a downside.
Balunso, who is taking up Master of Arts in Sociology at the Ateneo de Manila University, says the existence of ukay-ukays is detrimental to local producers.
There is a stereotype association of the ukay-ukay to imported items. Thus at work here is the colonial mentality in Filipinos.
However, Balunso says it is not really colonial mentality at work, but simply, the money. Or the lack of it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)