(^6) FoodPacific Manufacturing Journal July 2019 http://www.industrysourcing.com
boardroom connection
I
N THE cutthroat world of Filipino processed meat market,
it’s hard to find “special home-made” products that are
sourced from grade-A suppliers, made fresh every day, and
come at very affordable prices. LJD Foods hit all these
marks as clients have been raving about their meat products
line. This is probably the reason why the company is one of the
hottest up-and-coming names in local breakfast fare and processed
meat items.
Food Pacific Manufacturing Journaltravelled to the northern
part of Metro Manila to talk to entrepreneur Ms Lulu Domingo
and her family about their business venture.What sparked the idea of going into the processed meat
industry?
I have always enjoyed cooking for my family and hosting
dinner parties for our friends. They would always remark that the
tocino (sweetly flavoured bacon) and longganisa (garlic-flavoured
pork sausages) that I made were tastier than the popular brands
found in groceries. They begged me to sell them packs for their
kids’ packed lunches and also for their daily meals. Back in 2013
when LJD first started, I was only selling product to my relatives
and friends. After a year or two, I offered my line of products to
one school in Valenzuela area. It was a hit. Another school asked
me to provide not only tocino and longganisa for their cafeteria but
also hamburger patties for burger steak meals as well. Pretty soon
I was supplying for most of the elementary and high schools here.LJD is an inspiration
to budding
entrepreneurs
LJD Foods is a Filipino-owned
micro business working its way up
in the processed meat space, writes
RHODORA HOUSEHOLDER.
What does LJD stand for?
LJD stands for Lulu Jario Domingo, my own name. It took a
long time for us to come up with a name for the business. My kids
suggested using my initials and I thought yes, that is a good idea.
Thus, LJD Foods came into being.What products are available from LJD?
Our product line consists of different kinds of longganisa:
garlic, hamonado (sweetened), smoked longganisa, and skinless
varieties. The smoked longganisa was an experiment that actually
worked and tasted so good we made it a part of our regular line. LJD
hamonado longganisa is a favorite of our buyers since it is not too
sweet and has the right combination of sweet-savoury flavour. The
garlic longganisa we make rivals the ones from Lucban and Vigan in
the amount of garlic and pork fat chunks. We prepare bigger skinless
longganisa than the regular ones available in the market. The school
cafeteria concessionaires requested bigger sausages for their set
meals and we accommodated their request with skinless longganisa
piecesthat are the same size as German bratwursts.
Customers are surprised that there is very little fat in our tocino
packs. LJD tocino is mostly comprised of predominantly all-meat
pieces. I try to come up with healthier versions of tocino and regular
longganisa by reducing the fat content. This makes the products
popular with our health-conscious customers. Also included in our
bestsellers are our special burger patties for Salisbury steak meals.
And once a year, every Christmas season, we offer Jamon de Bola
(ham ball) and our own original Tocino meatloaf.What is your production capacity?
In a week, we go through 40 kilos of meat for each product line.
This is the reason why my sons and hubby are at the market two times
a week. Each time they get about 40 kilos for our daily production.
All of our weekly production gets sold by the week so we don’t have
much in stock in our freezers. I would say we sell about 200 kilos of
longganisa and another 200 kilos of tocinoevery month. The monthly
production for burger patties would be around 5,000 pieces.Where do you source ingredients?
All our meat is ethically sourced from Triple-A pork suppliers
from Tanay, Rizal. Tanay is known for its premium cattle and
porcine stocks. For the spices and other marinade ingredients, we
source local herbs and spices from the surrounding districts such as
Caloocan and Mandaluyong. Everything, from the meat to the herbs
and spices that we use is locally-sourced, proudly Filipino made.Which parts of production are mechanised?
For now, the company’s mixing and the sealing processes
are mechanised. Every else, from the marinade, the curing, patty-LJD foods offers a
variety of longganisa
(garlic-flavoured pork
sausages), including
garlic, hamonado
(sweetened),
smoked, and
skinless.