Going global

DIPOLOG CITY, Zamboanga del Norte – Nicasio "Nick’ Montaño has always been conservative about taking his now famous Montaño Sardines to town. He prefers to keep things small. Spending so much for advertising and promotion is simply not his cup of tea.

For 36 years, Montaño, president of the family-owned Montaño Foods Corp. which is the first manufacturer of bottled sardines in the Philippines, has allowed just the word of mouth to spread the company’s name in the local market and to overseas Filipinos hankering for that killer homemade Spanish style sardines recipe.

For years on end, Montaño, now 73, also kept at bay companies badgering him to sell his unlabelled bottled sardines and allow them to stamp their own brand. He did give in once, but realized the folly of it.

"At first I accepted offers for suppliers to just buy my bottled sardines without the label. But then Montaño Sardines stood out from the rest of the bottled sardine makers here or anywhere else in the country. I wanted to protect the brand known for its quality," says Montaño.

This year though, Montaño is letting his children, Thad, Lourdes, Kathy and Stephen who are all involved in the family business, to expand the Montaño Sardines lines in the growing Filipino communities in the Middle East, US territories like Saipan and Guam, Japan and in the US mainland where there is a strong Filipino presence such as Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco in California and in New York, among others.

Preparations are underway for the company to directly export its Montaño Sardines lines. Anytime soon, it is expecting to finally get that Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification.

HACCP is a production control system for the food industry. It is a process that identifies where potential contamination can occur (the critical control points or CCPs) and strictly manages and monitors these points as a way of ensuring the process is in control and that the safest product possible is being produced. It is designed to prevent rather than catch potential hazards.

"It took years for us to decide to directly export our products. Before, consolidators just ordered from us. Exporting is a big risk and we want to ensure that our products pass the rigid sanitary and phytosanitary standards of importing countries. We need to acquire a HACCP certification as a seal of good housekeeping even if we know we have been producing quality products," says Thad, who is vice-president for marketing.

In the domestic market, Montaño Sardines is a sought-after commodity in the bottled sardines sector. There is not enough volume going into supermarket shelves, that’s for sure. Montaño decided a long time ago that it should be that way and it’s one of the best decisions he ever made.

Here, where there are about 15 bottled sardines manufacturers, Montaño Sardines has a commanding 80 percent share of the local market. Nationwide, it’s share is close to 50 percent.

"My father didn’t expect our products to be so well-known outside of Dipolog. It started after all as a giveaway present to close friends and relatives. He is still against the idea of mass production because it could compromise the quality which we have been known for," says Thad.

Montaño who has a passion for cooking and experimenting on new dishes, grew up in the kitchen with his mother, the late Doña Concepcion Macias Montaño. It was the family matriarch who encouraged him to commercialize their bottled sardines in 1970. He spent P10,000 to set up a bigger kitchen in the large backyard where the facility still stands today.

Montaño, who was also then handling a budding construction business, would in between transporting construction materials to local contractors, personally deliver orders for Montaño Sardines.

As the bottled sardines business grew, so did the company’s workforce. From just 10, they now have a modest personnel of 30, but during the peak months from February to May, the company would be employing about 150 people who work in shifts.

"Our production is seasonal. During the peak fishing season, we produce as much as we can. Until now, my father processes only fresh catch of "malangsi" (herring) because it gives the kind of taste, aroma and quality that made our product distinct in the first place," says Thad.

During those months, both marginal and commercial fishermen would deliver an average of three tons of malangsi to the Montaño sardines factory. Montaño personally inspects the catch to ensure its freshness. There has never been an instance where the company was forced to settle for a catch that was " iced. "

" My father, and we in the process, learned that there can be no other way when it comes to getting our raw material. It has to be fresh all the time, never iced or frozen," stresses Thad.

Such uncompromising stance is what took the company to new heights. In fact, the company bagged the Outstanding Countryside Investor of the Year in the small-scale industries category of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Philippine Business Conference in 1998. Despite strong temptations to go into mass production, Montaño is keeping still for now.

"I always favored keeping things small at first. That way I could control the situation more easily. In this business, quality is everything. Even if our products fetch a premium over other producers here, people still come to buy our products," says Montaño.

Aside from the original bottled sardines in corn oil, its loyal base of customers now also have their choice of bottled sardines cooked in olive oil and tomato sauce, and in regular and spicy flavors. Other popular products include bottled bangus in corn oil, Spanish Chorizo, beef tapa, pork tocino, ginisang bagoong, fruit preserves, chicharon, fried peanuts and empanada.

With the export venture in the works and more supermarkets and delis clamoring for the company’s products, Montaño has assigned his daughter Lourdes Montaño-Madlambayan to set up a satellite office in Manila.

"I am still cautious about expansion. We will be spending just P1 million to improve our operations but this would be enough to double our capacity," says Montaño.