bake shop
At an early age, Justin Uy ventured into the business world primarily to help his father send his 11 siblings to school.
It was not a walk in the park for Uy in putting up his businesses. Many ventures failed until in 1980 he found the right one for him ? processing dried mangos.
?I did venture into shellcraft and fashion jewelry and even tried mushroom culture but I have to close them because I wasn't able to make it big,? Uy said.
Despite his failures, he never stopped believing in himself and continued looking for other viable business concepts, until at the age of 19, he realized the abundant supply of fresh mango fruits in Cebu, which were sold at cheap prices then.
Mangoes
?There was so much supply of mangoes back then but they're not as valued before that season farmers don't harvest the fruits. They just leave them to rot in the ground because it was not an expensive crop at that time,? he said.
He started his small dried mangoes business at his home in Mabolo with less than 10 employees.
He sold his dried mangoes by approaching buyers who would sell the dried mangoes.
But at that time, dried mangoes had started to popular in the local market and he faced stiff competition from other local businessmen who had ventured into the business.
And so, Uy decided to explore the possibility of selling his dried mangoes abroad.
?Processed mangoes are very saleable products abroad.? said Uy.
First market
Hong Kong was his first international market, supplying processed mangoes such as mango nectar and dried mangoes. After several years, the single-owned company became a corporation, which is owned by the Uy family. Profood International Corp. was formally founded in 1986.
The business continued to grow with product lines increasing from processed mangoes to processed tropical fruits like calamansi and pineapple. At present, the company is processing at least 11 tropical fruits with over 50 products.
From Hong Kong, Profood
It was not a walk in the park for Uy in putting up his businesses. Many ventures failed until in 1980 he found the right one for him ? processing dried mangos.
?I did venture into shellcraft and fashion jewelry and even tried mushroom culture but I have to close them because I wasn't able to make it big,? Uy said.
Despite his failures, he never stopped believing in himself and continued looking for other viable business concepts, until at the age of 19, he realized the abundant supply of fresh mango fruits in Cebu, which were sold at cheap prices then.
Mangoes
?There was so much supply of mangoes back then but they're not as valued before that season farmers don't harvest the fruits. They just leave them to rot in the ground because it was not an expensive crop at that time,? he said.
He started his small dried mangoes business at his home in Mabolo with less than 10 employees.
He sold his dried mangoes by approaching buyers who would sell the dried mangoes.
But at that time, dried mangoes had started to popular in the local market and he faced stiff competition from other local businessmen who had ventured into the business.
And so, Uy decided to explore the possibility of selling his dried mangoes abroad.
?Processed mangoes are very saleable products abroad.? said Uy.
First market
Hong Kong was his first international market, supplying processed mangoes such as mango nectar and dried mangoes. After several years, the single-owned company became a corporation, which is owned by the Uy family. Profood International Corp. was formally founded in 1986.
The business continued to grow with product lines increasing from processed mangoes to processed tropical fruits like calamansi and pineapple. At present, the company is processing at least 11 tropical fruits with over 50 products.
From Hong Kong, Profood