Savor the refreshing and tasty natural Vitamin C in Del-C products!
Choose from the ready-to-drink calamansi juice and concentrate, with no
preservatives! Enjoy the goodness of life in the best tasting calamansi juice
ever!
Enterprising
young couple
Ariel and Joy Arao never expected to be in this business. Joy recalls how
it all begun.
However, everything changed with the untimely death of Joy’s brother.
When she assumed the management of their farm, it was then that she
realized the need to go into processing because she thought: “what will I do
with the calamansi, throw it away?”
All the while the Arao couple thought that it was an easy process: – just
water, add sugar and calamansi and you have a juice drink. It was easier said
than done. “We had to learn a lot. We did not have technology,” Joy opined.
Through research, they found out that the University of the Phil. Los Baños
(UPLB) offers the technology they needed and wanted.
Both attended the training but their involvement was not that strong at
first, but later realized the great demand to put up a processing facility.
Government
Support
A visit to
the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) office assured them of support.
With DOST’s encouragement the couple was able to build
a processing
facility, and were able to distribute their products in the local market starting from
their very own business establishment- AJ Bakeshop and Food Haus.
“We
realized that government agencies were sincere in its efforts to help. Under
the DOST/SET-UP program, we availed of P423,000 worth of equipment for our
processing facility,” Ariel recalled.
SET-UP is
a nationwide strategy of DOST to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
to adopt technological innovations to improve their operations and thus boost
their productivity and competitiveness.
Joy said,
“aside from DOST, there was also DTI who partnered with us, they really helped
us out when we were about to give up hope on this venture. It was a long and
grueling process aside from the paper works and all the requirements.”
“And it was hard to get BFAD approval because
we had to come up with the standards they have set,” Ariel said.
“This is a
very nice program of the government which we find very heart warming. We have
no previous background in this venture, actually we’re neophytes. We have no
one to turn to and rely upon, otherwise, where else would we go?” Joy added.
On Sept
19-24, the couple went to Manila to attend the Annual OTOP Fair, now dubbed as
Market Fair by DTI.
Wider market
Market for
Del-C Calamansi juice is quite good though limited only to the local market.
The couple
looks forward to a wider market in key cities of the country.
Meanwhile,
Joy informed that they will soon distribute Del-C products at the Gaisano
Capital (mall) pending the go signal from the mall’s main office.
“The good
thing about calamansi is that it bears fruit the whole year round,” Joy said.
The young
couple ships calamansi to Cebu once or twice a week, or as need arises.
To date,
their calamansi farm has expanded to 6 hectares.
Future venture
Participating
in the Market Fair, the couple learned that lemon juice with honey is currently
in demand so they would soon go into that, and even considering an advice from
a friend to establish a bee farm right where the calamansi farm is located.
Del-C comes
in 200 ml pouches ideal for kids’ healthy “baon”, 350ml bottles and calamansi
concentrate in bottles of 550ml and 1.1L. It is produced by Deli Foodline located
along Rizal Street, Molave, Zamboanga del Sur with contact Nos. (062) 2251-229;
0920-905-2024;0920-90-7275. (JPA/ALT-PIA9/Zambo Sur)