Even when things work out just fine, some events would suddenly make you realize that things could be better.
That was the case for the owner of Tonio’s Sisig, Rowena Hachaso. The 38-year-old business owner shared that their business started when they sold sisig as meals served with rice. The business was doing well. They have been getting a lot of good feedbacks from customers.
One day, a customer who was curious if their product can stand long hours of travel sparked the idea of making Tonio’s sisig packed then frozen for later cooking or reheating.
This instance and idea made things better for Rowena and her team. What made their product stand the test of time and improve even further is the help of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the Kapatid Mentor Me (KMME) Program.
Although people already loved Tonio’s sisig, they were still having a hard time introducing their frozen product to the market. But through the KMME program, they were able to find the way, “Mentor Me Program for me is like a sun for Tonyo’s Sisig kasi it gives us light and heat. It boosted us to go on for success ng business and gave us light to guide us kung paano talaga ira-run ang business to the right path.”
Aside from DTI, Tonio’s Sisig is also assisted by other government agencies like the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in terms of good manufacturing practices.
Also, with the help of the training and seminars that Rowena attended, they are now Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – approved, which led them to open their product to a wider market. They are now able to join trade fairs where they get to introduce their products in different places.
Rowena learned how to manage the business from processing, manufacturing, marketing, and even human resource management.
She learned all these through the mentors that she met in the KMME program, “Simula nong narinig ko yung story nila knowing yung mg pinagdaanan talaga nila nainspire po ako kasi nakakarelate kami ng husband ko na mapapaisip rin kami ako minsan na ‘Okay pinagdaanan din pala nila yung pinagdadaanan namin.“
Because of the KMME program, Rowena realized that their product has a lot of competition when in the market, however, she learned how to keep their product unique so that it will stand out. From offering just the pork sisig, right now, Tonio’s Sisig already has four variants: chicken, bangus, and beef sisig.♦
Date of Release: 26 February 2021