Former activist turned farm-to-market entrepreneur

Orly Manuntag used to be a student leader during his university days and was a regular fixture in the League of Filipino Students’ rallies, exposing him to the plight of farmers.

He also grew up with his parents, who ran a small rice retailing store in Baclaran during the 1990s as the sole source of income for the family.

As he became a Customs licensed broker, Orly only wanted to stay away from the family business and far from the wet markets or a retailing store. But when his parents passed on, he was forced to take up the family business.

Little did he know that his calling to entrepreneurship could have been borne out of his exposure to those rallies and engagements with the farmers.

“My history of working with farmers during my college years as an activist made me care for the livelihood that has sustained our family for many years,” he said.

He envisioned a rice trading business that would integrate the ordinary rice farmers. The idea is to establish a stable and integrated rice supply chain in the country and he believes this can be done by doing backward integration.

From a simple retailer, he was able to scale-up the business to become a wholesaler, creating a network of retailers under a separate brand, the Aling Grasya Rice.

He incorporated the family business under the OCM trademark in 2006 and rebranded as Goldmine Farm to Market to pursue a farm to market business model.

Initially, Orly adopted contract growing scheme with some rice farmers in Nueva Ecija. He provides all the needs for a rice farmer, including fertilizer, seeds, pesticides, post-harvest facilities, among others. When harvest comes, they sell their rice to Goldmine.

“Most farmers have no access to banks so we provide them with this kind of arrangement,” he said.

“The advantage of contract farming is that farmers are assured of stable income from planting to harvest season,” Orly added.

Initially, he contracted 28 hectares, including his own four hectares, involving 50 rice farmers. Now, he is talking to more farmers to gather 100 hectares of ricefields for economies of scale. Cluster farming makes it more efficient and productive.

BACKWARD INTEGRATION

By bringing the total hectarage to 128 hectares, Orly said they could easily quadruple production and create a more stable supply chain while contributing to the government’s goal of achieving food security.

With enough volume of palay, Orly invested P50 million for a rice milling facility located in Bulacan. It has a milling capacity of 2,500 sacks of rice a day.

The rice harvested by its farmers are processed and milled at the Goldmine Farm to Market rice mill. Once the desired quality is achieved, the rice will be made available to consumers throughout its Goldmine outlets.

Orly also imports as much as 25 percent of their supply from Vietnam to augment supply, especially during the lean months.

With that, Goldmine has achieved a complete supply chain of rice from the farm to the market. It has become the most integrated rice production venture in the country.

FRANCHISE

Having established a stable supply chain, Orly thought of putting up his own farm to market rice retailing franchise. With the help of Francorp Philippines, the franchise authority in the country, he launched just his year his farm to market rice franchise. Orly mustered his courage to go mainstream at the recent Franchise Asia Philippines Expo.

The Goldmine franchise fee is P388,000 plus the 10 percent VAT or a total of P400,000 for a 20-square meter store. The package includes an inventory of 70 sacks of 25-kilogram rice consisting of 12 rice varieties from red, brown, glutinous to an assortment of premium white rice.

The franchise store is furnished with two rice dispensers with six slots each, a POS hardware and software system, digital and dial type weighing scale, metal shelves for display, metal palettes for product storage, backlit signage, auxiliary items and market peripherals including operations and financial management training.

Goldmine was one of the most affordable franchise concepts introduced during the recent franchise expo.

TARGETS

Prior to the expo, GoldMine has five franchisees located in Trece Martirez City in Cavite; Banay-Banay in Cabuyao, Laguna; Ususan, Taguig; Marcos Alvarez Ave. in Las Piñas; and Brgy. 592 in Sta. Mesa.

According to Orly, one of its franchisees has attained return-on-investment in seven months, but most are within eight to ten months.

Given the robust line of interested entrepreneurs, Orly targets at least 10 franchises this year, and 100 next year. He aims to reach 1,000 franchises nationwide by 2028. So far, Goldmine has registered 76 interested potential franchisees.

“We are cheaper because the farm is ours, so we save on middle men. We also have our own milling facility,” he said adding that his franchise is a good model for overseas Filipino workers wanting to start a small business back home.

“It’s a win-win agreement for all of us,” he said adding that more is in store for Goldmine. Orly is planning to make its store a one-stop-shop for basic goods.

FOOD SECURITY

The “farm to market idea” becomes more compelling at this time when the country’s rice production and food security become a big challenge. “I saw the need of farmers, I witnessed the need of farmers and the need to improve their productivity,” said Orly.

At this early, the astute businessman has already registered its trademark Goldmine with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

“We want to make sure that our idea, our brand is protected and this goes down to every franchisee that registered with us. It gives us peace of mind that what we have painstakingly created is secured and safe,” he said.

Goldmine has even become one of the leading brands in rice category in online platforms today.

“It was so gratifying that prospective franchisees notice that what we are offering is not just a business opportunity for them but also livelihood for hundreds of farmers involved in the business model,” said Orly.

The integrated farm to market rice supply chain story did not end there. Aside from benefiting the small rice farmers, Goldmine now employs 70 people and 42 scholars, mostly children of their contract growers.