With a little help from friends

Bacolod-based Far East Bamboo Furniture was put up in 1996 when the businesses of aquaculture and sugar were no longer profitable.

"I thought of the family’s 35-hectare bamboo plantation in Bacolod as a possible means of making money. It was just there, idle, but capable of producing about 147,000 poles a year. My problem was I didn’t know what to do with it," said president Emil Lamata, Jr.

Far East Bamboo started with an initial investment of P300,000 and a 200-square meter makeshift factory in Bacolod. Buyers were family friends and and some institutional buyers in Cebu and in other neighboring provinces.

"The initial response of the market was not very encouraging. Bamboo was a cheap material and the high-end market did not want to buy it because they thought it was not durable nor classy enough to find space in their living rooms," said Lamata.

Problems, Solutions

The market was not the only problem the company faced.

"During the first few months of operations, we did not treat the bamboo with chemicals. So after a while, customers complained that the carabao skin which was used as binders loosened because the bamboo was not properly dried. When they did dry after some time of use, the binding loosened and the bamboo cracked up," said Lamata.

The company sought the help of the Department of Science and Technology, which recommended the use of the kiln drying method in lieu of the unreliable (especially during the rainy season) solar drying method. Kiln drying also took only several days vis-à-vis the six months needed in sun-drying.

Design was one more problem that the company faced.

"Upon the entry of China, our sales went down by 35%. To stay in business, I went to several furniture shows abroad and looked at designs that were a hit among the foreign buyers but could not be mass-produced," said Lamata.

Financials

With improved production methods and better designs, Far East Bamboo Furniture increased shipments from four container vans in its first year to 12 container vans in its second year. As of end-2003, sales reached P20 million.

This year, the company expects to ship 60 container vans to the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. To meet surging demand from wholesalers and retailers as well as from contract work for hotels both here and abroad, the company has already hired 120 additional workers this year on top of its regular 30 workers. It has also invested in DoST-designed finishing spray booth and drying chamber, which are expected to help increase production and sales by 20%.

"The business has been a source of joy. There is nothing that can match the satisfaction of coming up with beautiful, truly Filipino pieces that are appreciated all over the world," said Lamata.