Jan Navarro (left), owner of JN Cacao business, receives a P70,000 interest-free loan from DOST-SETUP for the purchase of a cacao roasting machine. (JN Cacao Facebook Page)
Small business owners will always benefit from any form of assistance they can get, especially when they are just starting up.
This was the experience of 31-year old Jan Navarro who is now among those who are set to advance to the next level of their business through the SETUP (Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Based in Talisay City, Cebu, Navarro’s seven-year delicacy business features ‘tablea’ as their main product.
“[Ang] edge [kontra sa uban] sa among business is we’re into 100 percent pure cacao. Mao na gibalik-balikan sa among customers,” he said.
(The edge of our business over others is our use of 100-percent pure cacao. That’s what our customers wanted.)
Tablea is a chocolate product made from roasted cacao commonly formed in blocks or tablets.
From the P5,000 capital, Navarro now earns at least P50,000 per month and it can spike up to P100,000 sales if the demand is high.
His business shows an apparent growth especially since aside from their local consumers, Navarro’s online customers also increased especially in the Luzon regions.
Navarro now finds himself trying to cope up with the growing demand. Through the association he is affiliated with and with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), he was introduced to DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program or SETUP.
SETUP is an avenue for the MSMEs to learn and adopt technical innovations that may improve their products, services, operations, and even increase their productivity and competitiveness.
Navarro immediately applied for SETUP, seeking support in the purchase of a machine that would help improve their productivity. He said that in their current process of making the tablea, they have to spend at least 20 to 30 minutes to roast the cacao beans.
Considering their manual process, his team could only roast 3 kilos at a time and only twice a day. This means that their daily capacity is limited to 6 kilos a day or equivalent to only 1,400 pieces of tablea blocks.
With the roasting machine that will soon arrive, Navarro said that the roasting time will be the same but the capacity can reach up to 10 kilos of cacao beans per roasting.
“If ever na gyud na daghan ko ma-stock, pwede na gyud ko mo-tie up og stores nga maka-display ko ba, kay kahibaw gud ko ba kay kung og tindahan ‘nya ma-okayhan na, dapat jud kadtong naay daghan stock,” Navarro said.
(If I ever have a lot of stock, I can really tie up with stores where I can display my products. Because if it’s in the stores and if it’s approved, I really need to have a lot of stock.)
What really helps MSMEs?
While the acquisition of the machine is through a loan form, Navarro shared that what really helps is that the payment term is 36 months and the payment begins a year after receiving the loan amount.
Navarro added that it is an interest-free loan and once fully paid, one can also renew for another proposed machine or technology to incorporate in the business.
“Kana palang mismo, dako jud na siya og tabang namo sa SMEs ba nga somehow maka-produce mi og more sa amoang products nga dili pud kaayo bug-at sa among part,” Navarro said.
(That itself is really a huge help for us SMEs. At least, somehow we can still produce more of our products and so it would not be that heavy on our part.)
For his proposal of a cacao roasting machine, Navarro received around P70,000.
On top of the machine, DOST also provided SMEs just like Navarro with capacity training on the ‘Manufacturing Productivity Extension’ (MPEX) Program.
Promotes more jobs
Navarro assured that while there will soon be a machine that will roast the cacao beans, the manpower who used to do this task will be diverted to doing other jobs.
“Mahandos sa lain na trabaho dili na siya tig-roast kay kanang 20-30 minutes nga manual nga paggaling dako-dako na pud na siya na matrabaho na sa lain,” Navarro said.
(They can be placed in another task, no longer as a roaster because that 20-30 minutes of manual grinding is huge enough. Instead it can be utilized for another task.)
Navarro also invites the public to patronize local products like his tablea products as it can also help farmers who are the sources of their cacao beans.
“Tangkilikin ang sariling atin, promote gyud ta sa atoa nga Cebu nga product kay sa diha pa lang kay cacao man ko, if ever nga diri mopalit sa pareha sa amoa nga product nga local, makatabang pud mi sa farmer nga ma-sustain pud ang ilang livelihood,” Navarro said.
(Please patronize our own. Let’s really promote our Cebu products because just as I serve products of cacao, if you ever buy products like ours locally, we can also help the farmer to sustain their livelihood.)
Who can apply?
Navarro invites fellow MSMEs to seek support as the government is ready to help.
“Sa akoang fellow ka SME, dili lang mo mahadlok og kuan kaning try gane og unsa’y pwede masudlan sa imohang business kay naa ra ju’y government agency na pwede motabang, kana usa na ang DOST, kanang sa DTI, tanang resources sa government pwede gyud ninyo,” he said.
(To my fellow SMEs, you should not be afraid of trying to find out what can be incorporated in your business because there are government agencies that can help, one is the DOST, DTI, all the resources of the government.)
According to the DOST Region 7 website, SETUP can be availed of by companies or individual firms in the country that are wholly owned by Filipino citizens, by any micro, small, or medium scale business firm classified under the identified priority sectors, by company or individual firm willing to apply technological innovations to the existing products, services, or operations, and by local government units willing to apply technological innovations to the existing operations in their locality.
DOST-SETUP prioritizes sectors in food processing, furniture, gifts, housewares, decors, marine and aquatic resources, horticulture and agriculture, metals and engineering, health products and services/pharmaceuticals, information and communications technology or electronics. (JJT/PIA 7)
