The family business on the production of banana chips was established out of necessity when Mr. Jose Rivadeneira, also known as Ka Jose, was retrenched from the Marcopper Mining Corporation in Sta. Cruz, Marinduque in 1995. The mining firm was forced to cease its operations due to a mine tailings leak incident that contaminated the Boac River basin. After attending trainings conducted by different institutions for the benefit of displaced miners, Mr. Rivadeneira and his wife Adela considered venturing into the banana chips production because banana was locally available and the production was quite simple. The 3 Sisters’ Homemade Banana Chips started its operations in the couple’s house in Brgy. Bangcuangan, Sta. Cruz, Marinduque using a portion of the separation pay received by Ka Jose. He took care of sourcing raw materials while Adela took care of the cooking. Their children Rosita, Rowena, Joel, and Rose Ann, although attending primary school at that time, were actively helping their parents in packing and selling their banana chips in their school. According to Ka Adela, “Malaki ang naitulong na maaga silang namulat sa banana chips project ng aming pamilya, kasi hanggang sa ngayon na nakatapos na sila ng pag-aaral ay patuloy pa rin sila sa pagtulong sa pag-pack at pag-market.” For Ka Jose, “Blessing in disguise yung pagkaalis ko sa minahan. Ngayon kasi, eh, may golden banana chips kami na nakapagbibigay ng maayos na kita.” Endorsed by DOST Champion Formerly, about 75% of the 3 Sisters’ Homemade Banana Chips production was supplied to Rejano’s Bakery which happens to be owned and operated by Mrs. Carmelita Rejano Reyes (KaMita). KaMita is considered by the PSTC-Marinduque as a DOST champion because of her contributions to the promotion of DOST programs particularly SETUP, herself continuously being assisted by DOST-MIMAROPA under the program. With the consistent quality of the 3 Sisters’ Homemade Banana Chips and based on the high demand at Rejano’s outlets, Ka Mita advised both Ka Jose and Ka Adela to upgrade production capabilities and to visit the PSTC-Marinduque office and apply for the SETUP innovation system support for the purpose. Wrapped-up with technology The PSTC saw the potential of the project and lost no time in conducting the Technology Needs Assessment. PSTC personnel saw the need for new packaging, packaging equipment and other productivity enhancing interventions like productivity consultancy, manpower training, and conformance to GMP in the shop floor. With the speedy response of PSTC Marinduque to the application for assistance by the 3 Sisters’ Homemade Banana Chips, the prompt review of RTEC and the positive endorsement of the MIMAROPA Regional Director, the project was approved for SETUP assistance by the NPMO. Acquisition of Continuous Horizontal Band Sealer, Packaging and Label Execution and Product Testing/Analysis amounting to PhP 300,000.00 was granted in 2012. The market competitiveness of the product was improved by the functional packaging and label design. Shelflife was also improved and breakage was reduced to minimum with the provision of plastic stand-up pouches and box packaging materials. Rejects were reduced from 2% before packaging assistance to 0.33% with the new packaging, or from 5 packs of 200g each to 1 pack (200g); savings in reduced rejects was valued at PhP192.00 per month. More importantly, the product became another one of the many products endorsed by the Provincial Government as Marinduque’s Best Pasalubong due to its very good packaging. To ensure food safety of the product, the cooperator attended the seminar on Food Safety and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) sponsored and organized by DOST. From the knowledge gained, the owners used part of their savings for the construction of a separate processing center which conforms with the basic requirement of cGMP. The change in plant layout was also in consonance with the recommendations by MPEx consultants which conducted consultancy services for the firm. The MPEx program assists micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing sector to attain higher productivity through improvements in the flow of operations of the firm. The program enabled the firm to increase productivity with the introduction of systematic and organized production systems. A seminar on Technopreneurship further enhanced the firm’s competitiveness. The impact of DOST intervention can be summarized by the increase in the daily production volume from 1,000 pieces of raw banana to 2,300 pieces. At present, the firm is realizing an average increase in productivity of 73.42% compared to before SETUP intervention. They now employ a total of 10 workers, and indirectly gave employment to five (5) banana farmers supplying the raw materials. Smooth Sailing Now, about 30% of production is being shipped to manila twice a week. The remaining 70% is a favorite snack food consumed locally and made as “pasalubong” by local travellers. In fact, most of the stores in Balanacan and Cawit ports carry the 3 Sisters’ product. With the success the firm is currently enjoying, the firm is planning to acquire a mechanized slicer (again through SETUP) to double their production capacity and to enable them to cater to the increasing demand for their products.
|