Unifeeds

Universal Feed Mills Corporation (Unifeeds) is a company that produces feeds for poultry, swine and fighting cocks. It all began when Dr. Avelino and Elenita de Manuel resigned from their jobs as veterinarian and animal nutritionist respectively, and established their own business with the opening of an agrivet store.

Very bold was the move of this Filipino couple who left their well paying jobs from an established company like the San Miguel Corporation and gambled their savings in a business venture.

For many Filipinos, happy na with a college degree, then a good paying job in a well established company, moving up the corporate ladder to be a manager. For the Filipino- Chinese, it is in their blood line to engage in business and be an owner rather than to be a mere employee.

Later, the de Manuel couple saw an opportunity to supply their own brand of feeds to backyard raisers and in 1984, began to produce feeds that satisfy the needs of their customers. As Dr. de Manuel later said "how difficult it was in the beginning", very hard work indeed and a little luck came into play and expand na with machines to produce 5,000 bags per month.

Then came typhoon Rufing that damaged Mactan bridge and a feed mill in Mactan Island could no longer supply their clients in mainland Cebu. A crisis situation existed but Richard Nixon once said, for the Chinese, crisis is merely an opportunity in disguise; Unifeeds came to the rescue. Today, after 25 years, the company, excuse me, produces 3,200 bags per shift and next year, a new modern feed mill will be constructed in Liloan.

Time to commemorate the Silver Anniversary of Universal Feed Mills Corporation and your favorite food columnist with loyal customers and suppliers joined the celebrations held at the Sta. Maria Ballroom of Radisson Blu Hotel.

Appetizers and Salads were the following: Select Cold Cuts, Greek Salad with Kalamata Olives & Marinated Feta Cheese and Roast Lapulapu on Saffron Potato Salad. Soup served was Wild Mushroom and Herbs and it was delicious.

The main courses were: Chorizo and Herb Penne,

Deboned Crispy Pata, Chopsuey, Deep-fried Fish Fillet with Sweet & Sour Sauce and the Cajun Chicken with Sweet Corn in Tamarind Sauce. There is a difficulty in serving the crispy pata whole in a buffet table so the large bones (radius and ulna) were removed after cooking; the meat was still soft and moist while the skin remained crispy.

For Desserts, we had the following Dark Chocolate Cake with Morello and Cherry Compote, Fresh Fruits and Tiramisu Slice with Coffee Anglaise.

I cannot remember the drinks served during dinner but I had a glass of Scotch whiskey and for the ceremonial toast, I had a discussion with my friend, Abel de Manuel on what would be the best wine for the occasion and I said only the best, champagne like Dom Pérignon. [email protected] (FREEMAN)