Top 100 Cebuano Personalities - Benson U. Dakay

CEBU, Philippines — The late Benson U. Dakay founded the Shemberg Marketing Corporation, when he was still “wearing shorts.”

Today, because of Benson’s consistent push to develop the country’s rich resources in seaweed, the Philippines is now one of the top producers of carrageenan (processed seaweed) in the world.

Benson made his debut as an exporter of raw seaweed in 1973 to Degussa in France. Soon after, in 1978, he learned to process seaweed into carrageenan -- a hydrocolloid used as an ingredient in food, dairy, personal care, pharmaceutical and industrial products.

He then put up Shemberg’s own research and development division to initially develop carrageenan for the pet food market and later on as a food-grade product.

The phenomenal growth of carrageenan exports from the Philippines to different countries in the world easily made Benson the “Carrageenan King”.

Benson became a hero for some—his employees, seaweed farmers and ultimately the industry that he practically started—seaweed industry.

He waged wars in entering the then very difficult, yet lucrative market (for processed carrageenan) in the United States. (The US market did not allow the use of Philippine natural-grade carrageenan as a food additive until 1990).

He organized farmers, traders and processors to form the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP) in 1988. The group, under his leadership worked closely with the Philippine government and lobbied for the acceptance of Philippine carrageenan as a non-toxic food additive in the US. Six years later, SIAP and the government also secured access in Europe.

That victory and many more that followed gained him an international spotlight.

He was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men for aquaculture in 1988. In the same year, his company Shemberg received the Golden Shell Award.

Shemberg has also been a consistent recipient of the Greening the Supply Chain Award from Nestle, enabling it to supply carrageenan to all Nestle facilities worldwide.

Born in Cebu on March 26, 1955, Benson earned an accounting degree from the University of San Carlos before he took over the Lion-Tiger mosquito coil business that his father put up while setting up commercial seaweed farms in Mindanao to pursue his passion.

Shemberg Marketing Corporation remains one of the world’s largest suppliers of carrageenan even after his death in January 2012. (FREEMAN)