MANILA, Philippines — The Go siblings—Marilyn, Robert, Edward and Jeffrey—never forgot what their parents always told them as they were growing up: Rice is life.
Marciano Go and his wife imparted to their kids the knowledge that eating good rice is the essence of a good meal.
When their parents established R.E.J. Rice Dealer, a store that sold rice by the kilo and other staples, the Go siblings helped the business in any way they could. Marciano quit his job at a local bank to concentrate on the store so he needed all the help he could get. Later on, this store became R.E.J. Commercial Corporation.
With the help of his wife Linda, he ran the business while raising four children—the eldest daughter Marilyn followed by their sons Robert, Edward and Jeffrey.
The husband-and-wife team needed to be disciplined in their delegation of responsibilities and time management. Marciano was at the store first thing in the morning while Linda managed the house. She got the children ready for school, did the house.
As a university student, Robert would make the rounds of wet markets selling rice. Jeffrey helped man the store in Pasay City and Edward would make deliveries.
“Our beginnings were humble. Like most entrepreneurs, our family had its fair share of challenges such as mounting debts, logistical problems, and even complaints from neighbors because we’d be making deliveries until midnight,” Jeffrey said.
It was Jeffrey, an Accountancy graduate and a Certified Public Accountant, who took charge of the business’ finances and this was instrumental in helping pay off the family’s debts.
It was Robert who came up with the idea of launching Golden Grains, as he noticed a shift in consumer behavior.
“Young couples and those who live alone don’t need 25kg or one sack of rice. They also wouldn’t go to a neighborhood store and buy rice there. They would usually shop in a supermarket,” Jeffrey said.
And this is how Golden Grains was born 35 years ago.
Today, Golden Grains is acknowledged as one of the pioneers in the rice repacking industry, being one of the brands to offer a brown rice variant in retail sizes.
The business now helps provide livelihood to thousands of Filipino farmers as 95% of their rice supply is sourced from farmers’ cooperatives. Even if imported rice is cheaper, Golden Grains continues to help local farmers sustain and grow their livelihood by buying their harvests at market price.
Golden Grains supplies repacked rice in 2kg, 5kg,10kg, 25kg and 50kg packs to different supermarkets.
The brand’s past and present clients have included All Day Supermarket, Alturas Supermarket, LCC Supermarket, Citimart, Emilus, Rustans, Robinsons, Shopwise, Waltermart Supermarket, Merrymart, Metro Gaisano, Hi-Top Supermarket, Isetann Supermarket, South Supermarket, Shoppers Mart, Imart, Malayan Insurance and Pancake House.
“As a company, we also continue to listen to what our customers want and innovate accordingly. For instance, during the pandemic, we started selling on e-commerce platforms like Lazada and Shopee because that’s what our customers asked for. We are now looking at making Golden Grains available for same day delivery from Grab and Foodpanda because some people have been asking for that, too,” Jeffrey said.
While the company’s bestseller is Sinandomeng Special rice, the healthy segment consisting of red, brown and black rice is growing fast. Overall, Golden Grains has various rice varieties available, including Super Angelica (dry, hard long-grained perfect for fried rice), Maharlika (fluffy and maalsa), Whole Grain Rice, Healthy Alternative Brown, Black and Red Rice, Thai Jasmine and Dinurado Aromatic.
For the Go family, rice is life and a staple at every meal and Golden Grains will always try to provide the best rice for Filipino families.
Get your own bag of Golden Grains rice by visiting its Lazada store or Shopee store and take advantage of the exclusive 35th anniversary promo of 35% off on the two platforms only.