Green entrepreneurship: Business and wellness
It started with the objective of promoting healthy and locally-made products.
ECHOStore is a testament that green entrepreneurship could thrive in a market dominated by mainstream commerce.
Cebuana green entrepreneur Meyan Lim Young, together with some business partners, opened an ECHOStore in Cebu in hopes to introduce to the Cebuano market the socalled sustainable lifestyle that it is trying to promote.
"We opened ECHOStore in Cebu in March 2015 with the dream of showcasing natural, healthy and unique Filipino made products," the 31-yearold lady entrepreneur told The FREEMAN.
ECHOStore Sustainable Lifestyle was established in 2008 by three forward-looking women who wanted a place for all the eco-friendly and natural products one looks for to sustain a lifestyle that cares for the environment. It started in Serendra in Bonifacio Global City and eventually expanding to different places in the country including Cebu.
It's a social enterprise and retail store carrying green, fair trade products created by marginalized community groups from all over the Philippines.
What drove Meyan to license ECHOStore is its unique concept as an enterprise, given that she's passionate about slow food — food produced using high-quality locally sourced ingredients— and the support to local products.
ECHOStore also wants to help small producers, craftsmen and artisans get to markets they have never served.
"I became an entrepreneur back in 2012. I love the idea of building something from scratch, coming up with products that I love and sharing them with others. It’s challenging in many ways, but keeping it together, it's what drives me," Meyan shared.
Today ECHOStore in Cebu has its main store in Streetscape mall in Ma. Luisa Road in Banilad, Cebu City and a kiosk at the expansion wing of Ayala Center Cebu.
"ECHOStore Cebu thrives because of regular customers. Our market items keep people coming back. We do a lot of educating. We tell a lot of stories to our customers about our products, where they come from and who makes them. Having new products makes it more interesting and it keeps us relevant," the entrepreneur said.
It's quite a challenge today to educate the market about sustainable lifestyle, green consumerism and healthy living with the dominance of fast-food culture and mainstream products in the market.
But green and social entrepreneurs like Meyan believe that there is really a dire need to tell the market about the existence of local, natural and artisanal products.
"Even if it’s a social enterprise, at the end of a day, it’s still a business that we have to look at it from that perspective to keep it afloat," she said.
Looking into the future Meyan wants ECHOStore to expand in terms of store and market.
"We are working on expanding our store, market and products such as home, body and grocery products to meet more of our customers’ needs," Meyan said.
"We’re also working on having presence in many locations, spreading the awareness of local, natural, artisanal products," she added.
She intends to sell more of what ECHOStore customers want and need and make its products more accessible in more locations especially online.
Currently, ECHOStore serves a specific but constantly growing market.
She said they continue educating people on the importance of slow food and buying local.
In the end, she said it’s ultimately good business because it increases awareness about the sustainable lifestyle, which is what ECHOStore is all about.
ECHOStore, by its very name, stands for Environment, Community, Health and Organizations.
It's good to note that the passion to inculcate the essence of green living among Filipinos still exists with ECHOStore evolving not only as a social-conscious retail entity but also as an educator to communities that have the potential to produce sustainable products that will be strongly patronized not only by Filipinos but also among foreign consumers.