PRUDENCIO S. GARCIA
The 2016 Most Outstanding Kapampangan Awardee in the field of Business and Entrepreneurship is Prudencio S. Garcia.
He is the President of Mekeni Food Corporation. As an entrepreneur, he may have started small but he continuously worked on his craft.
Mekeni became successful in pioneering an operation that adopts the highest standards in food safety and quality and they took upon themselves to influence other players in the industry to follow the same in favor of the consuming public.
They were also recognized by the interagency body headed by the Department of Agriculture as the “Best Meat Processing Plant for triple ‘A’” category (highest category given) for three consecutive years. In 2006, Mekeni became the first ISO 2000 certified Meat Processing Plant in the Philippines and in Asia and second in the whole world. In 2007, they were given the Grand Slam Award for the Best Meat Processing Plant Competition.
Aside from local recognitions, Mekeni has received many international awards for continual commitment to quality. A Gold Award for Total Quality Management was given in 2012 in Geneva Switzerland, followed by the Platinum Award for Quality.
Aside from the leadership of Garcia in Mekeni, he has taken many active roles in promoting business not only in Pampanga but also in the whole country. He was the president of the Pampanga Association of Meat Processors (PampPro) from 2002 to 2006. During his time as the leader of the industry association, he was able to push for massive awareness and educational campaign on food safety; established tie-up with suppliers of meat items (as far as Davao, General Santos, and even Korea) to serve the requirements of the members; consolidated sourcing of other ingredients and materials to bring down the cost of production by strengthening relationships with the major suppliers; and Big BroSmall Bro project to provide assistance or sharing with the small players.
At the national level, Garcia is an active member/trustee of the ‘Go Negosyo’ since 2008. The group has been advocating the creation of more entrepreneurs to generate more jobs. He is being invited to many SME fora to share the company’s success story in order to inspire the other business owners and would-be entrepreneurs to pursue their business interests.
He is also active in both the local chamber (PamCham) and national chamber (PCCI). Locally, he has been a Director of PamCham since March 2007 and served as Auditor and currently as Vice President. Aside from recognitions given to Mekeni Food Corporation, Garcia is a also a recipient of many awards and recognitions such as the 2013 MVP Bossing Award, Outstanding Achievement Award - Land Based OFW for valuable contribution in the field of Entrepreneurial Development and 2007 Most Inspiring Pampanga Entrepreneur.