A meaty reward for caring

For Lolita Olalia Hizon, the woman behind Pampanga’s Best enterprise, it wasn’t so much objective planning or a complicated business formula that made her business a huge hit.

More than strategy formulation, it was Divine intervention that worked, according to her.

Since its establishment in 1967, Pampanga’s Best has become a household name for meat lovers as it provided original and special Filipino breakfast viands like tocino, longganisa, bacon, hotdogs and ham that continuously satisfy the Filipino palate for many years.

Little do the people know that the meat conglomerate actually sprung from a simple act of benevolence.

When a neighbor, a pork vendor, failed to sell five remaining kilos of pork, Hizon offered to process the excess produce into tocino, wherein cured pork is marinated in sweet red sauce for meat preservation. The sweet-tasting meat immediately sold like hotcakes.

The instant success inspired Apong Lolet, as she is fondly called, to try setting up her own business. At that time, she was working as an elementary school teacher, but she was always absent-minded in her classes because she was thinking about her husband’s whereabouts. Her spouse, who was managing his trucking and gasoline business, frequently traveled.

“I felt guilty and unworthy of the job, because my heart and my mind was just not into it,” Apong Lolet shared.

A devoted and religious person, she sought God’s guidance and prayed “that she will be given a job where she is deserving of her salary.” The tocino success came like an answered prayer.

With only P3,000 as initial capital, which she got after pawning her ring as collateral in a local savings bank, Apong Lolet decided to expand her kitchen for the pork processing. She personally supervised the production, which implemented the right kind of mixture, temperature and timing in their products. With only about five kilos of meat for her first venture, Apong Lolet successfully sold her finished goods to the butchers of the San Fernando Public Market.

Their products easily became a hit and numerous orders started coming in. Later on, Apong Lolet decided to package their products uniquely and labeled them “Pampanga’s Best.”

For 40 years, Pampanga’s Best (or P-best) has become one of the most flourishing enterprises in the Philippines. To date, they offer more than 30 product varieties, with 1000 employees and thousands of dealers nationwide and in the Middle East. P-best also processes its tons of meat in a 9.5-hectare plant facility in Pampanga and is even planning to transfer to a 22-hectare property soon.

In the midst of her success, Apong Lolet remains steadfast in her faith in God. Whenever someone asks about how she made it big in the industry, she would always respond that “God is the one who should be given full credit for my success.”  And being an instrument of God, Apong Lolet has also committed herself in the service of those who are in need.

After the devastating 1991 Pinatubo eruption, she offered to build 100 houses in her four-hectare lot in Cabalantian for families who could not afford to rebuild their shelters. After that, she established the Ang Bagong (The New) Cabalantian Foundation and deposited over P6 million for the needs of the townsfolk.

Through the years, Pampanga’s Best has worked on Apong Lolet’s vision to serve the Filipino people with innovative products and services “by adapting the best technology, quality, customer service and value” and “with passion towards service quality and customer empowerment.”

Fruitfully instilling entrepreneurial passion through good values and compassion for others that ignited Pampanga’s business force, Lolita Hizon will be recognized by President Arroyo and Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III as one of Pampanga’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs at the Go Negosyo sa Pampanga, slated tomorrow at the Bren Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando.

The citation is given by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship for the outstanding entrepreneurial revolution in the province of Pampanga.

Go Negosyo sa Pampanga is part of PCE’s latest campaign, the Go Negosyo Caravan, which aims to bring Go Negosyo forums and expositions in key cities nationwide. The Caravan already had previous legs in Cebu, Bacolod, Baguio, and Manila.

Go Negosyo sa Pampanga is presented by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Major partners include PAGCOR, Globe, Hyundai, San Miguel Corp., Splash Corp., PLDT, Smart, RFM Corp., Unilever, CILA, The Philippine STAR, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Manila Bulletin, Sunstar Pampanga, GMA Network Inc., RPN9, NBN4, Aspac-Law, Creativoices Productions and Full Circle Communications Inc.