The meaty details: Aging Facundo, Leticia Facundo-salvador, and Ela Facundo-isidro

In Davao, Aging’s is synonymous to quality meat products catering to a vast clientele for generations now. Hers has been the goto stall in the Bankerohan Public Market since the 1960s, when she was awarded her own space. Very few know that the small enterprise, birthed from the idea that “food is a basic need,” was started by Aging’s mom when she decided to relocate to Davao, where, as it turned out, she became the producer of the best meat in the city.

“The golden rule? Ensure the high quality of the product, be reliable, and honest,” shares Aging Facundo, who single-handedly grew the brand to success.

Manning a stall in a public market entails discipline. Waking up in the wee hours of the morning to open it by 4 a.m. seven days a week. At an early age, her two daughters, Leticia Facundo-salvador and Ela Facundo-isidro, experienced lighting up the stall’s bulb, slicing, and packing. Soon enough they naturally melded into the business, not that they didn’t give the corporate world a shot, which wasn’t for them, they confessed, plus, mom’s offer was better.

In 1982, Aging’s became a brand selling frozen “timplado” products and choice cut meats in a boxy store space. The meat shop has grown into mini grocery stores in the key areas of the city managed by Ela today. Among the products are the frozen products of Leandro’s, a byproduct of Leticia’s successful catering and food order venture.

Dedication, commitment, quality over quantity, prudent, credibility, excellent customer service, compassionate to all team members, Leticia and Ela saw all these traits from their mom, and they are emulating her ways. And just as Aging was trusted by her clients, the daughters are earning theirs from established and new clients through the business ethics they learned from their mom.

“We must have inherited our mom’s courage and diligence. We work until everything is done well, starting early in the morning, seven days a week. We only have seven to eight days of no work in a year,” chorus the sisters. “We learned that running businesses will require a lot of sacrifice but it has its rewards. Mama Aging and her business provided for us then and it still provides for us now.”

Aging’s Meat Shop, Leandro’s Catering, and Happy Home Cafe & Diner may be trusted and successful brands but the sisters are not sitting on their laurels. “We plan to expand as much as we can, and evolve by catching up with today’s advertising trends,” says Ela.

Each of the siblings has been blessed with a daughter. Leticia’s girl is now part of Leandro’s while Ela’s girl, though aware of the business, is given the choice of what career path to take.