Multiplying the Fish

Theoretically, RDV Food Industries has been in existence for less than a year. In practice, however, the business has been operational for 12 years as a fish drying facility called RDV Dried Fish and much longer as a one-man buy-and-sell business.

"It was initially embarrassing. I would be carrying baskets of dried fish in either hand while my former colleagues passed me by in their brand-new cars," said president Rolando deVera, who quit his job as a medical representative in 1986 to go into business. "I knew I would one day become a manufacturer and exporter of dried fish if I persevered and if I worked hard enough."

Working hard meant that, rain or shine, Monday to Saturday, January to December, De Vera went house-to-house, selling dried fish. He began with 18 kilograms of dried fish, which cost about P500, inclusive of the trip from Pagadian, where he bought the dried fish, to Cotabato City, where he sold the fish.

"There was not enough money to manage back them but I knew I had to learn to manage small amounts before I can dream of managing hundred thousands," said De Vera.

After years of penny-pinching, De Vera raised enough put up his own store in Pigkawayan, North Cotabato that catered to wholesale buyers. Soon after, he decided to cut his dependence on suppliers by putting up a fish drying facility.

Growth

In its early years, RDV Dried Fish produced between 500 and 800 crates or about 9,500 to 15,000 kilograms of fish, squid and other dried marine products per month."We deliberately underutilized the plant’s capacity, spending more money on storage in preparation for the rainy months of June to September when fresh fish was scarce and, therefore, expensive, and when drying was difficult," said De Vera. " It was during these months when we recovered our storage cost because the price of dried fish went up significantly."

In an effort to maximize efficiency, the company sought assistance from government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry, which demonstrated how to select the fish to minimize rejects, and the Department of Science and Technology, which provided standard salinity formulas to eliminate oversalting and introduced the solar dryer.

Built on the company’s 2,800 factory in Zamboanga City, the 500-square meter enclosed solar dryer increased monthly production to 28 tons of assorted dried fish such as red snapper, anchovies, squid, , threadfin, round and big-eyed scad, sardine and slipmouth. The dried fish were shipped to Zamboanga, Davao, Cebu, Manila, and Cagayan and was indirectly exported to Korea and Saudi Arabia under the brand name, Harvest from the Sea.

A second and bigger 1,468 sqm. dryer has been built last year, shortly after the company changed its business name to RDV Food Industries.

"We anticipate a rush of orders from leading supermarkets in the country . We also plan to export to the United States, now that we have been granted by the Bureau of Food and Drugs the license to operate and develop a hazard analysis critical control point for dried fish," said De Vera.