HOW A PROMISING MINDOREÑO ENTREPRENEUR IS UPHOLDING MINDORO’S THRIVING FOOD SCENERY

WHILE Occidental Mindoro is known as a promising hub for sustainable tourism, the province boasts more than its white beaches and agricultural lands. Hailing from the small municipality of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, is a booming enterprise called Mids Foods Pasalubong.

Mids Foods Pasalubong is the brainchild of Mr. ErnanDeclito, a local from the province who envisioned to promote Mindoro’s traditional yet genuine products characterized by distinct version, style and flavors that are consumed and passed on from generation to generation. The shop’s variety of products consist of sweets and pastries, Yemaspread, a sweet custard confectionary, and Bagoong Alamangthat comes with 5 flavors, bagnet, tocino, liempo, longanisa, and chicken.

Their humble beginnings can be traced back to their first creation- polvoron, dubbed as every child’s delight. Mids Foods produces high quality, rich in flavor delicacies and pastries that are baked with love. Mids Foods brand of “The Good Taste of Happiness” comes from their vision of providing the perfect taste of felicity and affordable pasalubong for tourists and balikbayans.

The idea of Mids Foods Pasalubong was put in reality after Mr. Declito finished the first batch of the KMME or Kapatid Mentor Me program of DTI in 2017. Because of the success stories shared by other participating micro, small, and medium enterprises, he was inspired to start his business even with a small capital on hand. The Kapatid Mentor ME (KMME) program aims to help micro, small and medium entrerprises (MSMEs) scale up their businesses thru coaching and mentoring by business owners and practitioners on different functional areas of entrepreneurship.

Likewise, the enterprise has undergone product development assistance from DTI MIMAROPA which also paved way for its participation at the Ag-biliwaTrade Fair. Furthermore, several trainings on packaging and label, food safety and sanitation with SGS Philippines, basic of trademarks and trade-mark search, E-Commerce, and strategic digital marketing were attended by the enterprise owner.

DTI MIMAROPA’s interventions are reflected in the enterprise’s success figures. Prior to availing the assistance in 2017, Mids Food Pasalubong only had one full-time employee, and since then, three more full-time employees were added in their roster. Additionally, the enterprise has also helped other unemployed locals in the province through reselling and distributing. They have also acquired a part-time employee to assist in their operations.Notably, their gross sales before DTI’s interventions ballooned from Php 2,000-Php 3,000 a month, to Php 26,000-Php 56,000 monthly. That’s over a thousand percent increase in sales.

Mr. Declito can attest that through DTI’s programs and projects, their business has improved well specially in packaging and labelling, and have reached a wider range of customers through online selling. They have also tapped online platforms such as Shopee and Lazada to distribute their products.

Just like any other business, Mids Foods Pasalubong went through adversities in the process. The Typhoon Ursula, a relatively strong and deadly tropical cyclone which traversed through the Philippines in 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic have both contributed to the downturn in their operations. Fortunately, DTI’s Livelihood Seeding Program-NegosyoSerbisyosaBaranagay (LSP-NSB) Program helped them get back on their feet, through the provision of livelihood kits and skills training.

Mr. ErnanDeclito is a reflection of a resilient and passionate PinoyEntrepreneur, and the continuing success of Mids Foods Pasalubong serves as a motivation for DTI MIMAROPA to continue its vision towards MSME development.