OneStore sells P1.6 M worth of products during NSTW

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Science and Technology’s OneStore Hub sold P1.6 million worth of products of local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the five days it opened shop during the recent National Science & Technology Week (NSTW).

Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said that impressive sales of the OneStore Marketplace store at the NSTW celebration last July 17 to 21 at the World Trade Center showed the effectiveness of the onestore.ph program of the DOST to provide a wider market for MSMEs around the country.

“We’ve seen that our local consumers will patronize and support products of our MSMEs if they will be given a place where they can see them,” Dela Peña told The STAR in a phone interview recently. “And the OneStore Hub is such a platform.”

Engineer Sancho Mabborang, DOST Region 2 director and national head of the onestore.ph program, said that food and beverage products were the best sellers and had the largest share in sales.

Other best selling products were the Chicha-Rabao, a deep fried carabao skin cracker variation on the Filipino delicacy chicharon; and Chicha-Rica, or rice and cassava crackers. The two products are manufactured and sold by the Lighthouse Cooperative based in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan province.

The onestore.ph program was started as an e-commerce platform for products of Filipino MSMEs that were provided with technical and equipment assistance by the DOST under their Small Enterprise Upgrading Program.

The DOST had expanded the program to include the setting up of traditional “brick-and-mortar” stores where the MSME products can be sold in various locations all over the country.

Mabborang said there were about 11,500 products of Filipino MSMEs showcased in the onestore.ph online store.