Making a Difference in MSME as Entrepreneur Moms

When it comes to business, no one can question Pinoy resiliency. But when talk shifts to how Pinay mothers in business stay stronger during challenging times and climates, we can think of a couple of inspiring tales that are worth emulating for any starting entrepreneur. 

From small, micro, and medium enterprises to startups, to big companies, more women have taken the spotlight from male-dominated industries to create a difference in their respective niches. Here in the homefront where Pinay entrepreneurs placed the Philippines as the top 9th in the list of best countries for female-led businesses, even those who take their roles as moms have been empowered through the years not only by their families but by the pursuit to break gender opportunity barriers particularly in business.

 

Women power in business

In last year’s Philippine Startup Week, no less than VP Leni Robredo honored Filipina women in tech for serving as inspiring trailblazers of change who recognize collaborative efforts in business and take the lead in discovering innovations. Unfortunately on a global scale, only 4% of women in startups are currently getting venture capital funding every year according to Y Combinator.

 

While female stereotyping is still ever-present in any type of workplace, more and more Pinay entrepreneurs continue to prove that determination and genuine partnerships with reliable suppliers are the keys to gaining equal footing in business. 

 

One Boston Consulting Group report said that gender parity in industries has the potential to increase global gross domestic product by up to 6% or as much as $5 trillion. Thanks to more women stepping up, we just might be on our way up those figures.

 

Matriarchs in the country’s food industry

In celebration of Mother’s Day, here are two inspiring Pinay moms who started small businesses and whose legacies continue to make a difference in the country’s food business.

Corazon D. Ong 

 

Rooting her business to the values of motherhood, Corazon D. Ong first started as a licensed dietician in a local hospital before creating a food empire that practically every Filipino knows today.

 

After finding the need to focus on her family, Corazon had quit her job at the hospital and concentrated all her efforts on providing her kids and her husband with delicious and nutritious home-cooked ‘baons’ and snacks. As her interest in cooking further grew, she began experimenting with local food favorites such as tocino and longganisa. 

 

Soon enough, other moms from the neighborhood got a taste of her signature favorites which prompted her to sell a few just to find out where it’ll take her. Little did Corazon know that on June 25, 1975, her business named CDO Food Products (later known as CDO Foodsphere, Inc.), will take off into something that remains a household name today.   

 

What many aspiring business moms can learn from Corazon’s business story is her never-say-die-attitude to make her brand reach the top. In 1987, bad luck struck the company when a fire broke out and destroyed their food processing equipment. Not to be deterred, she started back from scratch and reinvented the business through strategic branding and stronger food research which brought more CDO products to grocery shelves and into millions of Filipino homes.

 

With great product packaging and an intense desire to bring the taste of home to every Pinoy’s palate at affordable prices, Corazon has taught us that investing in what can later give you increased returns and profit is all worth it as long as you have the passion to follow through.

Today, CDO Foodsphere, Inc., remains as one of the top-selling processed foods in the country having held the title of Most Outstanding Meat Processing in the Country for five straight years from 1999-2003.

 

Julie Gandionco

A late bloomer in business, Julie started her food venture in her 50s after trying out her entrepreneurial skills via a sari-sari store and a couple of tailoring jobs. Before she started her business, her family used to move from one location to another all over the country due to the nature of her husband’s job as a soda employee. 

 

In the 1970s, her husband Diegs quit his job to focus on their sugar plantation in Dumaguete and as usual, Julie lent her helping hands to oversee the farm operations. Unfortunately, sugar prices dropped globally, and soon the family had to give up their farm and move back to Cebu where Julie became a canteen concessionaire in one of the city’s factories.

 

Realizing that the need for bread is prevalent among her customers from the factory, Julie established her first bakeshop in Mandaue with the help of an experienced ‘panadero’ in 1981– at the young age of 50.

 

After a few years, Julie’s Bakeshop has branched out into more stores based in Cebu and Iloilo as Julie continued to forge partnerships with suppliers, business stakeholders, and starting in 1998, franchisees. Today, her business is one of the largest bakeshop chains in the country with over 500 stores. 

 

Staying true to their branding of being the neighborhood bakery, Julie’s Bakeshop products are well-packed in plastic, paper, and box containers to maintain the products’ freshness and prolong their shelf life. Investing in good product branding and packaging certainly helped the business gain an established customer recall and this is perhaps two of the best things that entrepreneur moms who are in the food business can learn from Julie.  

 

Looking for a food packaging partner that is committed to your business goals? Visit Ezee Prints and learn how we can help you with your food business and why we are the preferred partners of MSMEs in Metro Manila.