Catering to changing tastes
The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2017 has concluded its search for the country's most inspiring entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines is a program of the SGV Foundation, Inc. with the participation of co-presenters Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine Business for Social Progress, and the Philippine Stock Exchange. In the next few weeks, Business World will feature each finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2017.
CELEBRATING life’s milestones and important events is made special with excellent food and great company.
The desire to help her friends make their celebrations more
memorable may be part of the reason why Octavia Hizon, 61, started a small food business out of her own kitchen.
However, Ms. Hizon’s more pressing motivation was the realization that after the birth of her fifth child, she needed to increase her income to help her husband support their growing family. She eventually transformed her small operation into a full-scale catering business.
While she completed a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Psychology and Guidance Counseling, Ms. Hizon’s true passion and focus were for food and catering.
At the start, she did all the cooking herself, from her own
home, which allowed her to perfect signature recipes that are still part of the company’s menu today.
Applying hard work, determination and innate thriftiness, Ms. Hizon led Hizon’s Catering to achieve its own milestones over the years that include building a commissary, pioneering new catering concepts, establishing design and styling departments and eventually developing relevant value-added offerings to support the main catering business.
Ms. Hizon also established standard operating procedures to streamline operations and enhance efficiency for every aspect of the business — from kitchen activities to food serving. She hired food safety officers to implement safety procedures and uphold food quality.
However, the focus on helping clients enjoy unforgettable milestone celebrations remains at the core of Hizon’s services. For Ms. Hizon, catering does not end when customers finish their dessert. Knowing that clients book caterers for events such as birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, among others, she believes that it is important to build relationships with them.
Hence, she trains her people to make sure clients always get the best experience possible. “Giving them the best is giving yourself,” she said. “It’s also good for repeat business in the long run.”
Because of this desire to strengthen relationships, Ms. Hizon welcomes feedback. When some clients commented on a lack of design, Mrs. Hizon established a styling department and design library to provide clients with attractive, tasteful event themes and concepts.
The same openness permeates the entire company.
Ms. Hizon sees her people as family and listens to their ideas and what they have to say. “My people bring different skill sets and experiences to the table,” she explains. “I encourage them to always contribute ideas. The ones with potential, I even send to culinary schools.”
Ms. Hizon’s openness to new ideas and innovations has also resulted in several firsts for the company. It claims to have pioneered the concept of the dessert buffet for a celebrity wedding. While attending a conference in the United States, Ms. Hizon was inspired to bring back chocolate fountains to the Philippines. She claims that Hizon’s Catering was the first to incorporate these features into dessert buffets. Other innovations she introduced included the use of modern equipment like food warmers that can maintain proper temperature for over eight hours. The company also installed a global positioning system in all its catering vehicles to better manage time, efficiency and delivery.
From helping people celebrate family and personal milestones, Ms. Hizon expanded the business to also support corporate events, building up a roster of corporate clients. Hizon’s Catering now has the capacity to cater for up to 21 events a day, including corporate events with as many as 15,000 guests.
Realizing that some clients need more support beyond food and service, Ms. Hizon and her son diversified offerings. In addition to food, Hizon’s Catering now also gives its clients access to stylists, more than 300 accredited venues, as well as value-added services like floral arrangements, invitation printing and bridal car rentals.
Despite how much Hizon’s Catering has grown from a onewoman operation into a leading name in the catering industry, Ms. Hizon has never forgotten to give back to the community. In addition to providing development opportunities for her people, Hizon’s Catering has also conducted feeding programs as well as provided donations and food to the victims of typhoons Ondoy and Yolanda.
Ms. Hizon is an entrepreneur who leads by example. She balances being a mom, wife and entrepreneur. Throughout the success of her company, she has not forgotten to prioritize her family. Throughout the many milestones in her life and that of her company, Ms. Hizon’s philosophy has been constant which she shares with aspiring entrepreneurs: “When you start a business, you have to put your whole heart into it. Always ask the Lord for guidance and love your people.”
The official airline of the Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines 2017 is Philippine Airlines. Media sponsors are BusinessWorld and the ABS-CBN News Channel. Banquet sponsors are Bench; Bounty Fresh Food, Inc.; CDO Foodsphere; Fiori Di Marghi; First Metro Investment Corp.; Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc.; Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc.; Intermed Marketing Phils., Inc.; Jollibee Foods Corp.; LB; SteelAsia and Universal Harvester, Inc.
The winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2017 will be announced in an Oct. 18 awards banquet at the Makati Shangri-La hotel.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines will represent the country in the World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June 2018.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program is produced globally by Ernst & Young.