Agribusiness with a cause

MANILA, Philippines - For entrepreneurs like Desiree Duran, success is defined by how much they’ve improved the lives of people around them. Success, to social entrepreneurs, is measured by the positive impact of their enterprises on a certain sector of society.

Desiree got her inspiration to be an agri-entrepreneur after attending a seminar under the “Unlad Buhay sa Nayon Program” organized by the Bulacan Agricultural State College, the provincial government of Bulacan, and the municipal government of San Ildefonso. After the seminar, Desiree took a leap of faith and decided to move from selling street food to growing vegetables.

It seems that Desiree had a natural inclination towards farming, because even without experience, and with only the knowledge from the seminar to bank on, she earned decent profits from tomato planting.

With a natural skill in farming, Desiree started growing other vegetables on a one-hectare piece of land owned by her family. As her business improved, so did her skills. Soon, she was in large-scale off-season vegetable production.

Desiree became an expert in her field, and soon the most sought after person of her neighbors for advice on agribusiness methods.

Desiree wanted her entire community to benefit from agribusiness. Apart from opening doors for mentorship and advice, she helped establish the Basuit Vegetable Raisers Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The cooperative became an avenue for other farmers to train and learn about modern technology in vegetable production, and to establish fair and competitive prices for its members’ produce.

She also learned how to develop seedlings and sell them to those who wish to venture in vegetable growing. Selling seedlings became a separate, income-generating business, earning her the moniker “seedling queen.”

Desiree is now a well-known agri-entrepreneur in her province, and her enterprise, Duran Farm and Agribusiness Center, has become a favorite destination of farmers, even from other regions, who want to learn about vegetable production.

A true princess

Princess Kumalah Sug-Elardo witnessed the desperation in her visit to several communities in Mindanao. A true princess, not only because she is born of royal blood, Princess Lalah also dedicated her life to public service and social work since she was a teenager.

She learned about coffee processing to train farmers in her hometown about processing and trading in the commodity.

With the help of People’s Alliance for Progress Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Princess Lalah introduced new methods using simple technology that not only makes coffee-making efficient, but also improves the quality of the final product.

With patience and hard work, Princess Lalah and the cooperative increased the harvest of local farmers and improved the flavor of the coffee. She named the product Sulu Royal Coffee and marketed it by attending local and international trade shows.

The long and tedious project, from improving harvest to marketing the finished product would not be in vain. Sulu Royal Coffee, with its two variants­ – the original blend and civet coffee – is now being exported, providing a steady, decent income to local farmers.

Enabling entrepreneurs

An entrepreneur can succeed with hard work, focus, patience, passion, integrity and optimism; but sometimes it helps to have someone or an organization that believes in the promise of a business, and offers its resources to expand it.

Erlinda Bartolome, managing director of GMB Franchise Developers, has been helping catapult businesses into the local and global market for 20 years now.

Like many entrepreneurs, Erlinda learned the value of hard work at an early age. As a student, Erlinda worked as a part-time teacher at the Colegio Santa Isabel so she could help her parents finance her and her siblings’ education. Erlinda did what she can to augment the modest earnings of her father, who worked two jobs – a clerk by day and security guard by night in the same public school – and of her mother who rented out rooms to students and also raised hogs. 

The hard work and other values that she practiced growing up would help her run GMB (Golden Morning Blessings) Franchise Developers.

With compassion always at the core of what she does, Erlinda saw GMB Franchise Developers as another way for her to continue helping others. Seeing other people’s businesses grow has been her passion that she goes to great lengths to assist GMB’s clients, helping expand their businesses as though they were her own.

Erlinda is a Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association and is the only CFE in the country to get all her certifications from seminars and conferences in the United States.

GMB Franchise Developers has helped some of the country’s popular businesses grow, including brands such as Mang Inasal, Julie’s Bakeshop, Lots ‘A Pizza, Fiorgelato, Bayad Center, Potato Corner, Lay Bare, Mr. Softy, and Ginger Snaps.

Desiree Duran, Princess Kumalah Sug-Elardo, and Erlinda Bartolome are Go Negosyo’s special awardees at the 4th Women Entrepreneurship Summit and Expo today 2 at the World Trade Center. Desiree and Princess Lalah will be given the Woman Social Entrepreneur Award for empowering and improving the lives of others through their social enterprises, while Erlinda will be given the Woman Enabler Award for helping other entrepreneurs succeed in their endeavors. The special awards will be presented along with the Woman Starpreneur Award, an award given in partnership with The Philippine STAR to recognize outstanding women entrepreneurs who serve as inspiration to others.