GOVPH

Their products are unique alright – food wraps just like tortillas, made from coconut meat.

But these ones come with a bonus. They’re raw, vegan, preservative free, gluten free, and non-GMO – an alternative for burritos, sushi wraps, lumpia wrappers, tortilla, even bread. These types of food are part of the paleo lifestyle, or the paleodiet which is now popular in the United States.

“It comes from the name Paleolithic,” explained Reece Kimes, chief financial officer of Cebu-based Kimes Foods International, Inc. (KFII), makers of the coconut wraps. “It’s a big craze. People are going back to the way of the cavemen - no processed food, totally gluten free, no preservatives.”

Mr. Kimes, a marketing professional who hails from Los Angeles, California and his wife, Dr. Priscilla F. Kimes, president and CEO of KFII, started the business in Argao, Cebu in 2009.

“It’s all coconut. We just use the young coconut, the meat and the coconut water, processed and dried,” said Priscilla. ”We have different versions actually. We have the one with turmeric and we’re about to launch the one with moringa, cinnamon and we also have the cacao version and we have the macapuno and lemon grass.”

In 2010, they were processing around 50 coconuts per day and the couple only had one laboratory dryer – a small one with only seven trays. It was actually Reece’s Christmas and birthday gift to Priscilla on the first year of their marriage, with Priscilla’s birthday falling in January. That dryer produced about a hundred coconut wraps a day for the US market.

Then in 2011, Priscilla approached the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region VII office to avail funding from SETUP or the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program to upgrade their dehydration equipment and increase the production volume of coconut wraps.

One of DOST’s frontline programs, SETUP provides assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their productivity, product quality, competitiveness in the local and global markets, and eventually, their income. The assistance package comes in the form of funding and training services.

For KFII, DOST granted assistance in the amount of P 1.443M, “enough for three dryers with a total of 64 trays,” shared Priscilla. One dryer has 16 trays while the two others have 24 trays each – a far cry from the 7-tray dryer they had in the beginning.

Sadly, their partnership with their US buyer fizzled out by the latter part of 2012.

Then in 2013, another buyer from the US contacted the couple and very soon, their market expanded.

With these higher capacity mechanical dryers, Priscilla claims KFII is now able to produce about more than half a million coconut wraps in a month – for distribution by their partner not just to the US, but also to Canada, Australia, and Europe.

“We hope to double that by the end of the year,” Reece stated.

“Our goal is to actually produce, in this facility, 1,000,000 pieces of wraps a day,” Priscilla revealed.

From 50 coconuts processed per day, they now process a whopping 12,000 coconuts each day from their own farm and their various suppliers from Argao, Barili, Carcar, and other areas in Cebu.

The increase in production also spawned increases in other areas as well:  Gross sales climbed by 200% from last year’s and the number of clients increased by about six new wholesalers/retailers. They’ve also provided jobs to more people in their community, as the number of workers jumped from about eight at the start to about 150 production workers  – regular and contractual employees. This number does not even include the harvesters, haulers, and other workers.

Priscilla related, “SETUP helped more coconut farmers increase their income and have a better living condition. Our coconut farmers/suppliers and employees can already send their children to school, improve their houses by changing their cogon or nipa  roofing to galvanized iron roofing, buy television set and refrigerator and some of our employees such as the coconut harvesters  and haulers can already afford to buy motorcycles [so they] no longer walk going to work. We have employed most of the housewives and out-of-school youth in the neighboring  barangays  and have definitely improved the peace and order situation in our location.”

Apart from the funding, SETUP also provides the KFII staff with annual training for Food Safety and Good Manufacturing Practices, and Cleaner Production, further strengthening the company’s seal of product excellence and customer satisfaction.

“Establishing a food processing plant in a very remote area in the countryside with no cellphone signal, no landlines and no internet connection is a big challenge but the assistance given by DOST can help us get over the humps,” Priscilla concluded.

Indeed, if you take a good product such as a healthy food item that is all the rave abroad, mix it with a dedicated team like Reece and Dr. Priscilla Kimes and all their workers, garnish this mixture with a great opportunity such as the international market, and finally, wrap all these ingredients in the delectable promise of SETUP’s interventions, you’ve certainly cooked up a storm.

Simply put, it’s the perfect recipe for business success.

For more about SETUP, visit the National Science and Technology Week celebration on July 24-28, 2015 at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City or go to the DOST regional office. (S&T Media Service)

Written by Administrator   
Monday, 06 July 2015 06:42