Charis Ice Cream: Competing with the big ones
AN entrepreneur in Tagum City is demonstrating that it is possible to compete head-on with the big players, and carve its own market niche.
Mauricio R. Gulfan Jr. was already in his mid 40’s when he retired as an employee of a major banana plantation’s transport service and decided to help his wife Quiteria in the family business.
“The company encountered adversities that’s why it closed. I promised my wife that when I retire, I will be behind her to support and help grow the business,” Mauricio recounted.
The husband and wife team produced native delicacies and sold them to friends who worked in nearby plantations. Projecting better profits, they later shifted to making ice buko or frozen fruit bars and giving birth to the company’s name Charis Nutri Fruit Bars, or simply Charis Ice Cream for their customers. Charis comes from the word “charismatic,” which is a reflection of the couple’s deep spiritual faith.
Mauricio knew he made the right decision in investing his time and hard-earned savings on the family enterprise. Sales continued to increase, as his wife took charge of the production side while he handled bookings and deliveries.
The business, however, faced serious competition when ice cream bars coming from neighboring Davao City invaded the local market, and eventually, ate a sizeable chunk from their regular sales.
“The ice cream bars were creamier and really tasted a lot like ice cream,” recalls Mauricio.
It was back to the drawing board for the couple. Upon introspection, Mauricio knew they had to find a way to adapt to the situation to ensure their business’ survival.
Lady luck was on the couple’s side when a friend who used to work for an ice cream bar factory in Digos paid them a visit and learned of their dilemma. At no cost, he shared with them the product’s recipe, which wasn’t as complicated as they thought.
Hitting on the right formulation a few weeks later, the husband and wife team started producing ice cream bars in different flavors. Their new products became an instant favorite, allowing them to regain old clients and capture new markets.
To enhance their production systems, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) -Davao del Norte Provincial Office helped Mauricio and Quiteria to obtain financial assistance from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) under its Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP). With upgraded equipment, the couple soon found themselves manufacturing ice cream using a slightly modified recipe of their ice cream bars.
Confident in the high quality of their product, Mauricio embarked on a one-man promotional campaign. He traveled to far-flung barangays to participate in town fairs and fiestas.
“During my out of town trips, I realized that ice cream is not difficult to sell, and in fact, has a large, untapped market,” explains Mauricio, who later on found his hands full making regular deliveries to clients as far as Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.
The strategy of bringing their product to the barrios seemed to work to the couple’s advantage. To entice local clients, their 3.5 gallon ice cream tubes are delivered for free and come with 100 pieces of ice cream cones.
Having established a strong client base in the countryside, Mauricio felt that it was time to tap a wider market segment. In 1998, he opened the company’s first scooping station in one of the city’s newly-opened malls.
He was initially apprehensive, as his stall was situated beside the scooping station of two of the country’s leading ice cream brands. “I felt that I was David facing two Goliaths,” Mauricio relates with a laugh.
To overcome his anxiety, he kept a daily count of the number of customers of his competitors. A few weeks later, his records showed that his scooping station was already drawing more customers, a development he didn’t expect at least within the near-term.
One day, he was approached by the supervisor of one of the scooping stations and informed him that his stall was taking business away from their company. Mauricio could only shake his head and politely told the manager that it was not the company’s fault it had a more superior product.
“Out of curiosity, perhaps, I counted the number of customers that bought from them and those coming to us. I had observed that in 10 customers going to them, more than that number came to us,” he says.
Charis Nutri Fruit Bars has, to date, established eight retail outlets in malls throughout the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental and Compostella Valley.
The company now produces at least eight tubes of ice cream a day, with each tube containing 130 servings. Its ice cream comes in 21 flavors, which include durian, cookies and cream, mango, chocolate, and ube as among their best sellers.
The couple and their two regular workers have attended seminars on Good Manufacturing Practices and the 5S of Good housekeeping conducted by DTI. The company’s motorcycle-driven ice cream cart has been replaced by a multipurpose vehicle and two delivery vans.
In 2009, the company won as the Most Outstanding MSME-Micro category for Davao del Norte. The husband and wife team have also been featured prominently in DTI’s Entrepinoy Book for Successful SMEs.
Asked on the company’s recipe for success, Mauricio shares this piece of advice to aspiring SMEs: “First, companies should always ensure the high quality of their products. And second, they should maintain excellent relations with their clients. With these mind, you can never go wrong,” he concludes. (Lifted with permission from DTI 11’s Asenso Ka! Magazine)