The year 2020 certainly hadn’t been easy for small businesses.
Many had to shut their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. But others managed to stay afloat and weathered the crisis.
One good example of business resilience is Balai Cacao , a company owned and managed by Marie Frances Macabenta.
Macabenta used to make tableya ( tablet of raw chocolates) as a hobby and sell them to friends However, Macabenta soon realized that she could transform her hobby into an enterprise and provide jobs to the community.
In 2017, after retiring from teaching at a University in Bohol, Macabenta embarked on a new phase in her life as an entrepreneur.
Her business enterprise derived inspiration from the cacao community families in her area, thus the name BALAI CACAO.
PANDEMIC PROOF PRODUCT
Macabenta entered the industry at a good time when the global demand for raw cacao was high. At a recent Philippine cacao industry forum, it was revealed that the Philippines alone consumes 50,000 Metric Tons (MT) annually while the local supply is said to be somewhere between 10,000-15,000 MT.
Numbers like these are a clear indicator of the demand for cacao in both domestic and export markets.
One main reason for its high demand is that it is the main ingredient in chocolate production and there is no other crop or product that
can substitute it in as far as chocolate production is concerned. There are six (6)
intermediate products that can be derived from cacao beans: cocoa nibs, cocoa liquor
(tablea), cocoa cake, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and chocolate confectionary blocks. Its
diversified use, both for food and non-food, provides broader market opportunities. As a
health food, cacao is a natural multivitamin.
Raw cacao has been linked to numerous health benefits, including reduced inflammation, better blood flow, lower blood pressure, improved cholesterol and lower blood sugar levels.
So taking into consideration the product’s health benefits and the public’s consumption of cacao, the industry is not heavily affected by the pandemic unless the production value chain is disrupted.
In the case of Macabenta, the tableya value chain starts from growing cacao trees and ends up with the tableya landing on a customer’s cupboard.
For the most part, Macabenta has control of her business’ value chain because she grows cacao trees and markets them on her own, and also supports local bean producers.
Building her business on a sustainable value chain means less supply chain disruption and lesser production delays.
SUCCESS IN COLLECTIVE EFFORT
Macabenta though admits that supply for cacao beans in Bohol are insufficient to meet production requirement, so she sources out some of her beans from other suppliers across the country.
Balai Cacao is part of the Association of Bohol Cacao Producers (ABCaP), an organization of cacao growers and tableya makers in Bohol.
Macabenta recalled that when she needed cacao beans but cannot purchase the set minimum order of a Davao-based supplier, she pooled the orders from other tableya makers within the association to be able to source out the beans in time.
To be able to weather the pandemic, Macabenta believes in collective efforts. This is the reason why she cooperates with enablers of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) to be able to contribute to the development of the cacao industry in the province. Her passion to assist other entrepreneurs is a way of paying forward, as she too is a beneficiary of the Gender Responsive Economic Actions for the Transformation of Women (GREAT-Women) Project of PCW and DTI.
Also, Macabenta was able to set-up Balai Cacao in digital selling platforms. She believes that market reach, especially during this time of the pandemic, lies on online sales. While she continues to supply her physical stores, she has also diversified her revenue streams. Recently, Balai Cacao opened a website with Global Linker, a digital marketing platform facilitated by DTI and Union Bank to provide marketing support to MSMEs.
Despite the pandemic in 2020, Balai Cacao was able to maintain stable revenue figures after an initial slump.
And recently , her online store at Shopee has been performing better than expected.
SWEET INSPIRATION
Let me leave you with a tableya inspired recipe I created during the lockdown last year. This has all natural ingredients, no cooking required and can be stored in the freezer.
Ingredients for 12 energy bars include:
3 cups chopped, pitted raisins
2 cups chopped raw peanuts
6-9 chopped unsweetened cacao tablets (depending on your taste)
6-9 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut or dessicated coconut
3 tbsp sesame or chia seeds
2 tsps vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 tsp salt (if not using salted peanuts)
Pinch of cayenne (optional)
Use a food processor to chop ingredients (there is cheap portable food processor found in Shopee or Lazada).
You can manually mix ingredients. Taste the snack before storing it in a plastic zipper bag inside the freezer. If you want it sweeter, add more raisins or a tablespoon of honey. If you want something less sweet, add more unsweetened tableya.
After one hour in the freezer, the food hardens because of the coconut oil. You can take it out and cut a piece to chew. It’ll taste like crunchy, chewy, dark chocolate. I usually eat it with ginger tea, fruit smoothie or squash soup during my scheduled work from home.
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