CDO Foodsphere still growing stronger at 28

From a backyard tocino and longganiza venture that eventually got registered as a cottage industry capitalized at P5,000 in 1975, and incorporated in 1981, CDO-Foodsphere Inc. has become a respective key player in the local food industry.

It celebrated its 28th anniversary last June 25 with a weeklong activities anchored on the theme "Doing Great at 28."

Named after its founder, Corazon Dayro Ong, a nutritionist-dietitian by profession who developed the thriving meat processing enterprise, CDO Foodsphere has etched a reputation among Filipino households as the maker of affordable quality food products that continuously innovates to ensure that consumers get the best nutrition from the food they eat.

"All I had in mind was to serve nutritious food affordable to the greater majority of the people. It was the farthest thing on my mind that from all our efforts there would rise someday a CDO brand of processed food," she says.

Now a byword among Filipino households, for its CDO hams, well-loved Bibbo! Hotdogs, karne norte, and other affordable processed meats, the company has also diversified into other processed foods including canned fish, sweet preserves and even purified drinking water.

Its ultra modern processing plant in Paso de Blas, Valenzuela City, considered as the heart and soul of its operation, has been rated the Best Meat Plant in the country under the "AAA" category for three consecutive years from 1999 to 2001 by the Department of Agriculture – National Meat Inspection Commission.

Considered the most vital growth engine of the company, the technoplant is capable of churning out hundred metric tons of assorted frozen meats and about 5,000 cases of canned products daily.

The technoplant seats on a 2.5 hectares property with its cutting edge equipment and production techniques attesting to the company’s firm commitment to give the Filipino consumers the best processing technology and a company they could be proud of.

The Filipino family, the inspiration of the company’s success, has benefited from the company’s growing product lines which provided the consumers with a wide array of food choices and options depending on their affordability and needs.

The Filipino consumers reciprocated CDO-Foodsphere’s initiatives by recently elevating the company to the Hall of Fame awardees by the Consumers Union of the Philippines. The Hall of Fame award by the CUP cites the company as the outstanding meat processor in the country for five straight years from 1999 to 2003.

From its noble beginnings as a mom and pop enterprise, which actually was Mrs. Ong’s hobby that she turned around into a business to help augment the family income, the company has indeed come a long way.

But CDO-Foodsphere is not just a company that satisfies hunger for food, it is also about nourishing business partnerships with its thousands of distributors and business partners all over the country, who have all pitched in a great share in ensuring the visibility of the company’s diverse products where they are needed most.