The Innovators - Planters Development Bank

SME
Feature
When rice biyaheros from Vizcaya, Isabela,
and Cagayan started buying seeds before
going home to Isabela from Bulacan, it
sparked the idea of setting up a branch up
north in 2006. Thus, Gloria’s cousin who
lives in Cauayan, Isabela set up a store in
her garage.
Implementing more innovations
Kennrick confessed that he fell in love with
the business just like his three sisters, who
are also involved in the family enterprise, did.
“My first project was to turn the business
from sole proprietorship to a corporation. I
am currently handling marketing, legal, and
business development.”
The family turned the field at the back of
their store to a “roofless showroom” or a
demo farm where clients can see the rice
varieties in actual field setups. Here, various
companies rent farm plots every season in
order to showcase their products.”
So how else has technology benefited the
business? This year, TILAH is renovating
their website to be more farmer-oriented
as the Internet remains very effective to
different audiences. “It is through our
website that the Kampot province of
Cambodia found us,” says Kennrick. “The
governor of the province and the minister
of agriculture of Cambodia invited us to
bring TILAH to Cambodia because they
don’t have existing seed systems there.”
The Magdangals have also maintained
good relationships with multinational
agricultural companies, such as Syngenta,
Pioneer Dupont, DevGen, and Bayer,
which in turn made them their primary
distributor for hybrid rice seeds.
Sticking to principles
Through the years, TILAH was able
to build and purchase their needed
equipment and facilities through
flexible terms as afforded by banks. The
Magdangals actually partnered with
Plantersbank while their children were
still studying in Manila. “They went to
Makati to look for banks which can
help the business grow more. They saw
Plantersbank’s head office and were
welcomed immediately by its officers. The
rest, they say, is history,” says Kennrick.
“Our relationship with Plantersbank has
been very productive. They listen to our
needs and make adaptive and flexible
programs for TILAH. Plantersbank has
indeed become our partner for growth,”
he adds.
The family is also grateful to PhilRice
for providing them with considerable
research and development assistance.
It is, after all, R&D which has helped
distinguish and differentiate their
business. And it will also be R&D that will
TILAH’s primary philosophy is “Together, we grow.” They make sure their blessings are cascaded to everyone they work with—the
hardworking farmers included.
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