Jollibee links farmers to comm’l supply chain
Fastfood giant Jolibee Food Corp. is expanding further its farmers entrepreneurship program (FEP) to help small farmers improve their economic and social well-being
The program was launched by the Jollibee Group Foundation in 2008 with aim of linking small famers to the supply chain of institutional markets including the homegrown fastfood chain.
JGF executive director Giselle Tiongson said it is planning to add three more cooperatives this year from the existing 12 and increasing the total number of farmer-members to 500 from 400.
“We’re also looking at additional sites possibly in Calabarzon, Luzon and Metro Manila,” Tiongson said.
The company is also considering Visayas and Mindanao to boost local production of its vegetable supplies.
“We are continuously looking for partners such as local government units and microfinance institutions that will help the farmers,” she said.
Jollibee’s cooperative farmers supply about 20 to 30 percent of the total vegetable requirements of the brand’s businesses.
Farmer Wencelito Gomez is one of the first beneficiaries of this program. From a maximum P600,000 income, his income more than doubled since the launch of the FEP. He is now earning as much as P1.5 million per year.
“There was a very significant increase. What’s good about this is it’s contract farming. We earn as long as we produce good quality of produce,” he told The STAR.
He recalled the difficulties he encountered prior to joining the program. Among these include not knowing what to plant and how much he would earn.
“Now it’s different. Even before you start planting the seeds, it’s already planned, up to how I am going to market it,” he said.
From less than a hectare in 2008, Wencelito now owns about eight to 10 hectares where he plants various commodities including onions, red hot chili, corn and palay (unhusked rice).
“With the project, we already have consistent customers and an assured market which gives a guaranteed income,” he said.
“There were also big improvements in our respective families. Before, we put our farms and equipment on mortgage just to have money to make a living. But with the cooperative, our problems have lessened since we already have the inputs and seeds to start with,” Wencelito said.
Being in the cooperative also paved the way for Gomez to access other major players in the industry.
“We were given the chance to explore because of Jollibee. We partnered with other companies that can also make use of our products,” he said.
Aside from JFC, Gomez supplies some of his agriculture produce to Splash Corp., Barrio Fiesta, and CDO Foodsphere Inc.
This year, he is set to supply to Mekeni Food Corp., Nutri-Asia Inc., and San Miguel PureFoods.
“We were used to supplying to just the wet market since we have limited produce. But now, we have lots of buyers who consistently order from us,” he said.
Member farmers deliver onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and calamansi, among others, which are then used as ingredients in some of JFC’s food brands.
FEP has provided farmers with direct access to more than 20 institutional markets, including restaurants, supermarkets and food processors.
Buyers are purchasing directly from farmers in Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Albay, Antique, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Bukidon, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental and Agusan del Sur.