Social enterprises as business success stories

MANILA, Philippines - It was an unmistakable problem and the nuns wanted to help fix it. All over the Cordilleras, a growing army of dropouts was about to envelope the region like the vast uplands shrouding their mission sites. Thus, in the name of sending thousands of poor girls to school, sisters of the Good Shepherd convent retreated into their kitchen and whipped up what became the closest thing to a miracle recipe. Handed down and perfected across two generations, their concoctions have lorded over the market for many years. Heavenly tasting Mountain Maid strawberry and ube jams are unmatched to this day as Baguio’s signature product and Northern Luzon’s biggest home-grown brand.

Around the world, people’s hearts sank in the early 1980s as stark images filtered out from Negros island. They were the photographs of famine-stricken kids in sugar plantations hit hard by a global crisis. The resolute women who founded the Association of Negros Producers (ANP) in 1986 launched a rescue mission to create emergency employment for the suffering farmers and their families. Since then ANP has never stopped innovating and adding value to sugar cane by-products. The members are as driven as before, rallying behind a battlecry among Negrenses to “never again” allow the trauma of a quarter century ago.      

Profitable fruit jams and pastries may have foreshadowed the sweet success of social enterprise in the country. But how did an urgent social mission turn into a winning business over time? Can market goals and social principles really be merged seamlessly? 

The Mountain Maid strawberry and ube jams are Baguio’s signature product and Northern Luzon’s biggest home-grown brand.

On Oct. 20 and 21, the civil society and business sectors will sit down to examine different social enterprise models during a conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City. The Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) is spearheading “Social Enterprise: The Next Business Model” as part of its 10th year celebration and new program focus. Its four co-organizing bodies are the League of Corporate Foundations, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Business for Social Progress, and PinoyME Foundation.  

Those who will share their enduring success stories include Sister Mary Guadalupe Bautista from the Religious of the Good Shepherd, who currently coordinates production at Mountain Maid Training Center; and Millie Kilayko, co-founder of the Association of Negros Producers.   

Relatively new players in social enterprise will also speak at the conference. For the keynote address, Ramon Uy will narrate how his original farm waste management idea evolved into organic fertilizer and vermiculture ventures with Negros cooperatives, while son Ramon Jr. (“Chinchin”), who upscaled his father’s fertilizers into branded goods, will follow with a presentation on how he extended the business into Veggie Eden, a brand of organic vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Former corporate CEO Jim Ayala will talk about his journey from the executive suites of Ayala Land Inc. (no relation) to his latest passion for environment-friendly businesses, notably solar energy technology. Insol Development Foundation president Gavin Bunker will describe how his group develops the management capacity of micro entrepreneurs who missed the opportunity of education because of their poverty.

The conference is chaired by PEF director and 2003 Ernst & Young Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year awardee Chit Juan. For details, visit socialenterprise.ph or pef.ph.