A FASCINATION for mangoes has spelled success
for Justin Uy, whose mango products are available in 45 countries around the
globe—in Europe, the Americas (North and South), Australia and Asia.
But
beyond mangoes, there is in him a love for his country that made him brand his
product “Philippine.” It’s a brand name that has been around since 1982. The
reason for making Philippine his brand, explains Uy, is to make his country—the
product’s country of origin—known.
Uy’s
first ventures into business were failures. He was into mushroom growing,
poultry, shellcraft and other businesses but he said they failed because he did
not have the capital needed to go big time. But with mangoes, he explains, “You
can start in your own kitchen.” Which is exactly what he did, and for the first
15 years, he peeled mangoes along with his workers.
The
first three years he describes as a “complete failure.” Things began to get
better when he started to export in 1980 (to Hong Kong) and by 1982, he knew he
was on the way to succeeding. The company has not only grown, it has changed
its name from JimJim Food Products in 1978 to Producers Foods in 1984 to
Profood International in 1986.
From a
kitchen operation, Profood is now a multimillion-peso state-of-the-art
operation, with plants in Bulacan, Bacolod and Davao with the main plant in a
13-hectare property in Mandaue City, with thousands of people under the Profood
payroll.
His
plants have the capacity to process five million mangoes a day (a thousand
tons), 85 percent of which is exported. His products are ISO certified, kosher
and halal.
The
company now processes other fruits, including green mango, saba and Cavendish
bananas, pineapple, coconut, guava (which the company gets only from the Aetas
since 12 years ago), guyabano, papaya, dalandan, passion fruit, calamansi,
jackfruit, mangosteen and tamarind. Some of these fruits are processed as they
are, or in combination with mango for a more delightful taste treat.
Uy
talks about his passion for helping people: he has buyers all over the country,
from “Ilocos Norte to General Santos”: wherever the mangoes are, he has buyers
directly dealing with the farmers so they will not have to go through a
middleman.
He
describes his company as the “waste basket” of Philippine mangoes: what cannot
be sold abroad or in the local high-end market, he buys, and he adds, “I never
turn a farmer down.” And to help coconut farmers and to cut down on
gas/electricity costs, he has been using coconut shell since 2003 for boiler
steam generation.
All the
years Profood was successfully marketing its products locally and abroad, Uy
kept a low profile. That has changed recently partly because Joey Concepcion
told him he must let his success story be known, to inspire others, and partly
because he is now very much into tourism. As he says, “The Philippines is a
great country, but not enough effort is done to succeed in tourism. … We’re not
utilizing our beauty and resources enough.”
Toward
helping attract tourists to the country, he now is part-owner of Imperial
Palace Waterpark Resort and Spa, has J Centre which has a convention center and
which will also soon have a hotel, while Profood recently opened its gallery
and museum, geared to tourists (right now it is focusing on the Korean market)
who can have a plant tour, a film showing all about mangoes, a taste of the
products, a chance to buy Philippine handicraft, with a giveaway bag of
souvenir items and Profood products.
His
bigger tourism plan is to have a medical tourism complex in Mandaue City.
For all
this new interest, Uy says his main concern is really Profood, for which he is
the number one salesman. He has not ceased thinking of other products to add to
what the company now has. He is already exporting coconut water to the United
States, and soon he will export coconut water in combination with mango,
pineapple and other fruit flavors, as well as frozen sticky rice with mango.
For the Philippine market, he plans to have mango balls coated in chocolate.
Asked
the secret of his success, Uy answers: “I don’t call myself successful. We are
very fortunate that all my siblings are very cooperative to make us succeed, as
well as all our staff.” For a highly successful man, Uy certainly knows how to
give credit to all who have helped him become the success he is today.
Jenara
Regis Newman
sunstar.com.ph
Business & Investment Opportunities
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