Kalinga hands

Rose Laed’s work as a researcher for the defunct Presidential Assistance for Cultural Minorities in the late 1970s made her fully understand the rich customs and traditions of her native province, Kalinga. In 1985, she finally decided to make millions out of what she understood.

During trips to the Mountain Province, Laed purchased ethnic products handcrafted by local artisans and sold them to her friends in Manila. Realizing the potential market for ethnic and antique crafts, she and her husband put up Kalinga Ethnic Handwoven and Antiques as a trading company with an initial capital of P100,000.

Two years later, Kalinga Ethnic ventured into manufacturing to meet the demand of foreign buyers placing orders.

"Ethnic products have always been with us. They were used by our forefathers and now we enjoy them as centerpieces or accents to our modern homes. The market has always been there," she said.

Markets

Exports account for 65% of total sales volume. Despite competition from other Asian countries, the company has maintained its American and European buyers because of its designs and craftsmanship.

"In the Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany, I was surprised to see that many of our local designs had been copied by manufacturers from other Asian countries and they even sold items at a much lower price. In fact, one item which I sell for $15, they sell for $7," said Laed, who regularly joins trade shows both here and abroad to market her products and to keep updated with the trends in the market.

"It was difficult for us to compete with the prices because they attend international trade fairs for free, courtesy of their governments, while we have to spend almost P1 million every time we join international trade shows."

Kalinga Ethnic maintains a one-storey warehouse building in Lubuagan, Kalinga which is used for storage and initial processing of raw materials that are distributed to about 42 families who do the actual weaving and woodworks. It also has a factory in Tandang Sora, Quezon City that is used as a storehouse for products ready for shipment locally and abroad. This is also home to 123 regular workers. A two-unit leased apartment in Panay, Quezon City, serves as the administration office and showroom center.

Guts and capital

Kalinga Ethnic’s 18 years in business have not been without worries. It was, for example, badly hit by the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. "Our sales dropped by more than 20% in both local and export markets. We used to set the price for our items, but after 9/11, we had to agree to the prices requested by buyers. Otherwise, we would have lost their orders," said Laed.

The company also weathered 2001 by getting a P2.5 million from the Development Bank of the Philippines. Proceeds from the loan purchased more raw materials and equipment that rejuvenated the business.

"We will go full blast with our five-year expansion plan. We are especially looking at the local market , which remains a big untapped market for handwoven ethnic products," said Laed.

"This takes guts, capital and yes, a lot of hard work."

Guts and hard work Laed and the company she founded have a lot of.