Man on a mission

MANILA, Philippines - Jeremie Janssen S. Lo, is one of Naga City’s youngest and most successful entrepreneurs. Born on August 21, 1974 to a family of modest entrepreneurs, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration (Majoring in Management and Marketing) in 1995 and worked on to expand the family business   with relentless vigor.

Jeremie entered the world of business   when he was 18 years old. He managed the family store in the morning and attended school in the evening. He was not content with JL Trading’s current status of just having one branch. He knew that their business had more potential than that.

Starting from a small outlet within a supermarket in Bicol, Jeremie had wanted to expand their operations in the entire Bicol region — Camarines Norte, Albay, and Sorsogon. To bring his dreams to fruition, he hired a sales agent and invested on tools needed to improve their product’s reach. Although it was a simple trading business of getting stocks from manufacturers and/or distributors and selling it to his chosen areas, it was a good start. It was also the start of a major shift from the rice milling business of his parents to enter the more competitive world of distribution and retailing — servicing a particular set of constituents, the farmers.

As Jeremie saw the potential in the animal nutrition industry, JL Trading applied to become one of Purina Feeds’ distributors. After two years, in 1996, Purina awarded the distributorship in the Bicol region to JL Trading. Being a multi-supplier distributor, JL Trading became the focal point of various manufacturers and multinational companies in the region. The family’s simple rice milling business grew into becoming one of the biggest distribution companies in the region thus, renaming it as Bicol JL Agri Corp. (BJLAC). With Jeremie at the helm, he began to expand their business as they acquired a number of various businesses in San Jose, Pili, Camarines Sur.

For eight consecutive years, Purina recognized BJLAC as Distributor of the year. Yara Philippines, one of the largest fertilizer companies in the industry, also identified BJLAC as one of its top five distributors. BJLAC had gone into the retail business through their various farm stations. From two branches, they currently have seven in a little more than five years. To date, BJLAC’s presence through its various subsidiaries and affiliate companies extend to North, Central and South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

In 2006, Jeremie established Excelsure Marketing Group, a Caltex Lubricants Distributor. One year later, they also established Naga Fuel Express (a Petron Fuel Distributorship with two gas stations) and Vast Agro Solutions (a manufacturer and distributor of agricultural and animal solutions products).

From JL Trading’s humble beginnings in 1983, the family corporation has grown from a P22 million company to a P2.8 billion company in a span of only15 years. From an initial support of seven employees, his company has grown to become a major employer with 650 employees.