Mekeni’s ‘K’

The 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo was a breakthrough event for Mekeni Food Corp. "Because the major players in the processed food business could not get into Pampanga, we saturated North Luzon with our products," said treasurer Prudencio Garcia.

MFC’s deliveries to Metro Manila did not stop either. With two delivery trucks, the five Garcia brothers brought their products to the bank of the Pasig-Potrero River, where the bridge was impassable and manually transported the crates over to the other side.

"Everyday, we called on the men in the evacuation centers to help us carry the crates over and paid them P8 per crate that they brought across," he said.

Investment

Mekeni was started in 1986 by Garcia’s parents, Felix and Medicia, as a backyard meat processing project that could produce 600 kilograms per day.

Today, Mekeni has a daily production capacity of 70 tons on a 24-hour operation.

The company’s 7,600 square meter plant sits on a 14-hectare property in Balubad, Porac, Pampanga, which Garcia and his four brothers bought with savings from job stints abroad.

The plant is a showcase of cleanliness. The floors are immaculate and employees who come in and go out of the plant are required to wash their hands and don protective clothing like boots, gloves, and masks.

"We have invested some P30 million so far for the machines and we are putting in another P2 million," he said.

The purchase of the machines enabled MFC to post a growth of 40% for the years 2001 and 2002. "This year, we are being very conservative in projecting a 20% growth," he said.

New markets

To maximize the plant’s capacity, the company is looking at the Visayas-Mindanao market as well as the export market.

"We have built a world-class company and we are proud of it," he said. "We are professional in our business dealings. Orders are delivered on time, the quality of the product is never compromised, and the money of the business is not used for personal expenses," he said.

From four employees in 1993, excluding the Garcia brothers, MFC now employs 300 people.

"The idea was not only to rake in profits but also to provide employment to people in our neighborhood so they will veer away from vices," he said.