Project KKK boosts mushroom business

By Mary Philline C. Rodriguez

SAN FERNANDO – Day 2 of Project KKK: KABUTEhan para sa Kabuhayan at Kalusugan, held on February 26, 2023, focused on training about Basic Marketing and Strategies, Start-Up Entrepreneur Stories, Pricing Costing, and CVP Analysis—these topics encourage the Abanggayon families to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors and assist them in gaining a better understanding of business management and opportunities.

The seminar-workshop series kicked off with Calibr8 Digital Ms. Leslie del Villar, she talked about Basic Marketing Strategies. It was relevant to the beneficiaries because, in its current state, the means of subsistence of the Mushroom business only reached a confined market. As Nanay Josy, a participant of Project KKK, said, “Many are aware of the products, but only a few avails of it or purchase it” [translated]

Miss Leslie’s talk provided insights that the Abanggayon families need to reach more target consumers and highlight their product’s benefit and upscale mushroom industries while leveraging traditional and digital marketing.

The second person to speak was none other than Mr. Emman Panuelos, the owner of South Corner Burger and the 2023 Public Relations Officer for JCI Naga Inc.

He shared a narrative that the Abanggayon families can relate to on how he got his business off the ground. He shared that one of the lessons he learned in his foray into entrepreneurship is to adapt to change and be teachable. His remarks on the foregoing topic were as follows: work hard to improve your product or service so that people patronize it, accept learnings and embrace change because new challenges call for innovative approaches.

Mr. Emman stressed that there is nothing inherently wrong with being motivated by money but that we ought to direct that motivation toward productive enterprises to achieve financial independence.

Mr. Jaime Jardiolin Paulo, Jr. from the Department of Trade and Industry’s Negosyo Center in CamSur concluded the workshop with the significance of costing and pricing a product or service. His discussion centered on how to improve costing, pricing, and cost management to adapt to a more competitive climate.

Mr. Pao employs a cooperative learning approach to elicit the participants’ active participation by repeatedly requiring them to read, recollect, and recite essential topics from his presentation. Not just that, he led a brief workshop to verify, under the watchful eyes of our primary mushroom growers, whether or not the GK-AV mushrooms are being sold at a fair price.

In a nutshell, the second day of Project KKK was rich with information, ideas, and wisdom from the three presenters, all of which will help the Abanggayon Families in their quest towards successful entrepreneurship.

The collaboration of JCI Nagueña and JCI Naga Inc., together with the University of Nueva Caceres Institutionalized Community Extension Services (UNC-ICES) and Gawad Kalinga Camarines Sur are committed to strengthening livelihood and empowering individuals through mushroom farming.