Yu & Mejia

Ties that bind As far as Henrik Kelly Yu, Joanna Lim and Catherine Genabe are concerned, big dreams come in big servings. Moreover, their friendship that has stood the test of the time became the catalyst for big things to come. It was in the middle of 1998 when Yu, Lim and Genabe decided to put up a restaurant. An Economics graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University, Yu initially worked as brand assistant at the Universal Robina Corporation, while Lim and Ganabe were busy polishing their cooking skills at the Center of Culinary Arts in Quezon City as they were already stirred by their passion for good food. When Yu resigned and went back to Cagayan De Oro, he invited Lim and Ganabe to join him in his business plan that aims to cater to the needs of their hometown. Without hesitation, his two friends concurred and sought the first plane ticket to Cagayan De Oro. Their initial plan was to subject Yu’s concept of a restaurant to a market study that will determine the kind of food service that the people in their province needs. Yu personally went to banks and left survey questionnaires to the employees since they already decided to tap their market. The study showed that their target market prefer the taste quality and the price of the food compared to other services like the availability of parking space, and the convenience and accessibility of the location, among others. They also discovered that their prospective customers were willing to spend more than a hundred bucks for a meal, twice or thrice a week. Taking these observations into account, Yu, Lim and Genabe then proceeded to a series of taste test. Every week, they would invite family and friends to try out their food because they believe that these are the people who can truly give “objective judgments.” They eventually developed their menu through these taste tests. For the overall look and ambience of the restaurant, Yu, Lim and Genabe settled on a “traveler’s house” atmosphere. They even displayed various souvenirs from their personal travels like Yu’s Indonesian blowpipe, which he got when he was a member of the Philippine rowing team that competed in the 1997 SEA Games, Lim’s collection of ornamental plates from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands and Genabe’s masks which she bought in Thailand and Venice. Fittingly representing their enormous servings of food and other products, Yu, Lim and Genabe christened their venture “Bigby’s Café and Restaurant.” On December 8, 1998, Bigby’s Café and Restaurant began its operations with 35 personnel at the helm, giving quality and delectable meals for all travelers and native Cagayanos. After six months of penetration in the market, three competitors tried to mimic their concept but they were able to overcome rivalry as they pushed for stronger promotional campaigns like going to street soirees, costume parties, town fiestas, and other special occasions. By coming to these affairs, Bigby’s managed to also attract the appetite of the younger market. Today, Bigby’s Café and Restaurant has 7 branches located in SM City Bacolod, Gaisano City Bacolod, SM City Davao SM City Cagayan de Oro, Ayala Entertainment Center Cebu, Limketkai Center Cagayan de Oro and Smallville Business Center in Iloilo. In December 2007, Bigby’s will open its newest branch in SM City Cebu. “Even from the start, we have learned and instilled in our business the value of giving more to gain more,” Yu shared. “The rewards of compassion, honesty and hardwork will always be tenfold.” As the long-standing friendship of Yu, Lim and Ganabe paved the way for stronger business partnership through the years, it is the value of family that opened the doors for Fely Pelaez to venture into food business and for her daughter Mercedes to make SLERS what it is today. In the old town of Del Monte, Bukidnon, Mrs. Fely Pelaez would cook country style ham as part of their family tradition during Christmas season as the main attraction for the Noche Buena. She would also sell some to friends and other family members until the demand for her ham increased each year. That’s when she decided to make it a profitable business. Armed with only P10 as initial capital, Pelaez gave birth to SLERS which was named after the initials of her children Shirley, Litlit, Earl, Ray and Sharon. Pushing for excellent quality and global competitiveness in the food service arena, Pelaez led SLERS in coordinating with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other government agencies to promote conformity with international standards. SLERS also sought valuable assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through its program, CESO-BAP to continue upgrading quality service at par with the best of the world. Pelaez’ advocacy was eventually sustained by her daughter Mercedes Mejia who was appointed as Managing Director of SLERS in 1987. This time, Mejia decided to innovate on its corporate policies and “to venture to higher grounds with the same vision of creating quality food the way it has been and the way it should be.” With the support of the entire family, Mejia managed to execute productive ideas for the business and she was able to address great changes by pushing for new packaging designs, acknowledging gaps in production and distribution and finding new ways to develop the company’s services. From only two workers, SLERS now employs 100 members while their featured products also grew by variety. Aside from their original Jamon Cagayan De Oro, SLERS products also include tocino, longganisa, bacon, and hotdogs. In January 2006, SLERS also introduced their own chicharon brand which easily became the favorite pasalubong from Cagayan De Oro. They also established the SLERS Express Meals, a quick service restaurant that sells its products as meals in August. Moreover, SLERS also distributes its products through various supermarkets and through seven company- owned outlets called the SLERS PiCA PiCA. “Over the years, my mother’s vision became the guiding force of SLERS,” Mejia said. “We stood by quality and innovation to make sure we remain a force to reckon with in the market.” For their exemplary entrepreneurial contribution to the province of Cagayan De Oro, Yu, Lim, Genabe and Mejia will be awarded by Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III as Inspiring CDO Entrepreneurs, a recognition given by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship as part of the Go Negosyo sa Cagayan de Oro slated on October 19 at the Atrium, Limketkai Center . Go Negosyo sa CDO is part of PCE's latest campaign, the Go Negosyo Caravan, which aims to bring Go Negosyo forums and expositions in key cities in the country. The Caravan has already visited Cebu, Bacolod , Baguio , Manila , and Pampanga. Go Negosyo sa Cagayan de Oro is presented by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Major partners include PAGCOR, Globe, Hyundai, San Miguel Corporation, Splash Corporation, STEAG State Power Inc., Limketkai Sons Inc., Unilever, PLDT, Smart, RFM Corporation, Concepcion Durables Inc. and Entrepreneurs School of Asia. Media partners include The Philippine Star, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Sunstar CDO, ABS-CBN, ANC, GMA Network Inc., RPN9, NBN4, Aspac-Law and Creativoices Productions and Full Circle Communications.