LANDBANK HELP

MEAT retailers Jerome and Anna Trofeo were having trouble sourcing healthy hogs to meet their customers’ requirements 2 years ago, with the African Swine Fever significantly affecting the output of hog growers nationwide. Determined to keep their “Annie & Jerome Trofeo” meat stall running, Anna decided to expand their business and establish their own commercial swine farm.

specialties from several US States—the California Pizza, Colorado Sizzlers, LA Burgers and New York Wings—thus the brand All Original American.

US States—the California Pizza, the

“I think we’re ready to franchise the brand. It’s not just the food that we are excited to offer, but really the dining experience. We’re not just a takeout counter or fast food, we have full service and a full diner menu,” he said.

Othel V. Campos

TECH-POWERED SARI-SARI STORE PLATFORM ROLLS OUT AFFORDABLE LPG IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PREI

LOCAL startup Packworks, which offers a business-to-business (B2B) open platform for sari-sari stores, is partnering with clean-fuel provider Pascal Resources Energy Inc. (PREI) to supply refillable LPG canisters to select micro-retail outlets in the Philippines.

Dubbed as the world’s first of its kind, Gaz Lite is a PREI innovation in a 330-gram refillable LPG canister that burns clean, smoke-and-sulfurfree fuel. Compared to solid fuel, Gaz Lite saves each household up to 60 hours of cooking time per month and reduces their fuel expenses by 33 percent.

“We are thrilled to be in joint hands with Gaz Lite as this partnership will enable us to expand our impact, transforming the lives of millions of Filipino households, making safer and more affordable cooking fuel a reality, while also contributing to a cleaner, healthier environment,” said Packworks co-founder and CEO Bing Tan.

A wide dealer network of megastore partners of Packworks, in Cebu, Batangas, Quezon, and other parts of Visayas, will serve as the distribution and refilling hubs for Gaz Lite for the initial rollout. The canister is priced at P145 each, inclusive of deposit, or P65 for every refill. A canister can last up to five days.

The partnership aims to provide safer and more affordable clean cooking fuel to more Filipino households as a viable alternative to illegally refilled butane canisters or charcoal and wood. Gaz Lite is safe from hazardous chemicals, which could pose health risks, and a cheaper alternative to using firewood that contributes to global warming.

The couple took out a P24-million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) to fund a start-up commercial swine farm under the Bank’s Special Window and Interim Support to Nurture Hog Enterprises (SWINE) lending program.

From the total amount, P20 million was used to finance the construction of 3 piggery buildings to separately house nursery, farrowing and gestation pens, as well as support facilities that include an office and staff quarters.

The loan also covered the construction of a manure lagoon and waste water treatment facility to minimize the environmental impact of the farm, while the remaining P4 million financed the acquisition of young female hogs for breeding.

With the opening of AJ Piggery Farm, the couple’s meat stall is able sell around 900 kilograms of pork per day to accommodate the demand of meat retailers.

The stall is also able to supply around 1,650 kilograms of pork per week to 2 local supermarkets in Laguna and Batangas, doubling the the meat shop’s income to as much as P600,000 per month from P300,000.