Beverage company empowers women sari-sari store owners

CEBU, Philippines - International beverage company Coca-Cola aims to help 200,000 women sari-sari store operators in the Philippines in the next six years.

Coca-Cola Philippines sustainability manager Gilda Mauilan said the company will extend various assistance to women sari-sari store owners such as access to finance, technical training, access to merchandizing and store assets and social development interventions.

These components will be given to the beneficiary for a period of three years. "On the fourth year, we will conduct an impact monitoring and assessment based on the set program objectives," said Mauilan.

The Philippines is part of the company's country beneficiaries of empowering five million women entrepreneurs by 2020.

"Coca-Cola recognizes the significant role of women in the development of business and communities. In the Philippines, we find sari-sari stores in every corner managed by women. The company's thrust is to include them in the value chain by enabling environments for their business to thrive and become sustainable," said Adel Tamayo, Coca-Cola Philippines vice president for public affairs and communications.

So far, the company has enlisted 30 thousand women sari-sari store owners to be part of the loop, 3,000 of which are from Tacloban, 2,000 in Bacolod, and a thousand in Cebu.

This time, Mauilan said the company is reinforcing the membership base of the program by identifying more women in this kind of business to get the support included in the program.

Launched in 2011, the beverage company has existing partnerships with the Technical Education and Skills and Development Authority, Alay sa Kaunlaran, Inc.  for Luzon, Negros Women for Tomorrow for Visayas and Palawan, and First Community Cooperative for Mindanao.

"This Christmas season, by providing the sari-sari stores with merchandizing support, we hope that this will help drive customer traffic to their stores which we hope will increase their sales. As we know, when women earn they tend to invest their income to the welfare of their family," added Tamano.

Coca-Cola is continuously searching and spotting deserving women sari-sari store owners around the country, with special focus on Yolanda-affected communities to be part of the program. Interested applicants may coordinate with Coca-Cola regional offices, and distribution channels.

STAR is part of Coca-Cola's worldwide initiative dubbed "5by20" designed to contribute to Millennium Development Goal poverty alleviation efforts.

MDG is composed of eight international development goals established by the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium declaration. – Ehda M. Dagooc (FREEMAN)