SAGA OF LONGANISA, JOURNEY OF TOCINO
    Mekeni Food expands worldwide

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    CLARK FREEPORT – From Barangay Balubad, Porac, Pampanga to the four corners of the world, that makes the saga of the lowly tocino and longanisa via Mekeni Food Corp.

    The Philippines’ and Asia’s first ISO 22000-certifi ed meat processing company has expanded its exports to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and most recently to Japan, rightfully earning its right as a world-class processed food manufacturer.

    “We are the first Filipino food processing company accredited by the Japanese government,” proudly said Prudencio “Pruds” Garcia, MFC president, during Wednesday’s Talk Widus forum hosted by the Pampanga Press Club at Hotel Widus and Casino here.

    “The Japanese were very strict in every phase of our accreditation, from its inspection of every nook and cranny of our facilities, to our personnel, to observing the food processing operations and the quality of materials we use,” Garcia disclosed. “And this went through for days.”

    No less stringent, Garcia said, was the process of entering the Middle East market.

    “We had to impact halal not only in every part of food processing but from the start of food material sourcing and preparation.”

    While MFC topped P1.2 billion sales last year, Garcia said exports accounted only less than three percent of the aggregate amount. “With an aggressive export drive, we are projecting this to rise to 40 percent in the next two years.”

    Hence, Garcia said, the continuous innovation in MFC’s state-ofthe art facilities and the production of “new value- added and high-quality products.” Currently, MFC produces at least 100 tons of processed meat daily.

    “We go beyond what we have accomplished. We are known before only for hotdogs and tocino, but now we have introduced sausages, bacon and other internationally accepted food products including processed seafood like squid and fish balls and other,” he said.

    In these times of higher health consciousness among consumers, Garcia said MFC has “greatly reduced” sodium and fat in its food processing.

    “We value the cost of health. We guarantee that our products have no antibiotic residues and no chemical tenderizers. We are committed to off er only the highest quality of processed food that is affordable to all Filipino families as well as our clients abroad,” he hastened.

    Valued now at P800 million, MFC has indeed grown by leaps and bounds from its initial capitalization of P5 million.

    However big MFC has become, Garcia said the core value on which his father, Felix, grounded the then fledgling company has remained the same – Help the Filipino family to provide food on the table, help the Filipino children get education to, in turn, help the nation.

    “More than our products, it is our people that we get to project at MFC,” said Garcia. As indeed, he did so at the conferment to the company of the Diamond Award in the prestigious 30th World Quality Commitment (WQC) Awards in Paris, France last month.

    Under the auspices of Business Initiative Directions the awards “recognize and promotes companies, organizations and institutions that understand the dedication, continuous improvement, innovation and relentless pursuit of productivity that leads to excellence.”

    BID is a 30-year-old organization founded in the US and Spain, regarded as the most effective and cost efficient organization working globally in the promotion and practical application of the Total Quality Management Models.

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