Pilmico kicks off Mahalin Pagkaing Atin  2017 Food, Agri & Livelihood caravan

 

Tayasan, Negros Oriental – As part of its efforts to champion sustainable livelihood and backyard farming throughout the country, Pilmico – the food subsidiary of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. – kicked off its Food, Agri & Livelihood caravan in Tayasan, Negros Oriental. 

With its primary objective to “Create a venue that celebrates local businesses and inspires the next generation of agri-entrepreneurs”, the trade exposition gathered farmers, existing & aspiring agri-entrepreneurs and baking enthusiasts 

and were given access to free trainings essential to starting a business and a chance to interact, engage and form partnerships with exhibitors.

Workshops held included topics such as: hog raising, poultry (layer) management, animal health, micro financing, basic & advanced baking, and packaging & labelling. Meanwhile, Mahalin Pagkaing Atin Ambassador Chef Boy Logro treated Negrenses with a cooking demo where the different flavors of the Philippines were showcased using pork, chicken & eggs. 

Apart from the free training, a turnover ceremony of livelihood kits was held for the 16 pre-screened beneficiaries from Negros Oriental. The livelihood assistance consisted of: 30 piglets (3 piglets per beneficiary; each with one-cycle feed consumption), 5 egg machines (48-chicken set each with once-cycle feed consumption) and 1 bakery kit (1-deck 4-tray bread oven, bread rack, working table, bread showcase, dough roller and 10 bags of flour). 

The piglets, egg machines and bakery kit will enable beneficiaries to sustain their livelihoods through an easy-to-manage business with a quick return on investment, despite the threats of poverty, tragedy or conflict.

These donations are part of Pilmico’s Mahalin Pagkaing Atin program, a campaign introduced in 2014 that aims to promote sustainable entrepreneurship through promotion of local produce and instill a “pride of product, pride of place” mindset for both farmers and local consumers, thus enabling operators to maximize profit without passing through middlemen.

Nationwide, Pilmico has already donated a total of 706 piglets, 333 egg machines, 30 bakery starter livelilihood packages. Next stop of the Food, Agri & Livelihood caravan will be in Palawan.