Technology had linked the divide between manufacturers, food producers, and consumers by mere clicks of a button. The quickly expanding economics of delivery had made it possible for consumers to purchase goods expediently—a convenience highlighted significantly during the pandemic.
The Local Goodness PH: Bringing Fresh, Local Produce Straight to your Table
However, as much as technology was making life easier for everyone involved in that clockwork consumer process, there was a sector that was being overlooked—the local producers. These were the farmers who did not have access to technology due to a number of factors such as remote localities, lack of internet connection, and simply put, the absence of a supply chain that linked them directly to consumers. To do so, they had to rely on traditional middleman traders who tactlessly pocketed more profit than them.
Fortunately, a few social-enterprising individuals came up with the idea of putting up The Local Goodness. This social enterprise connected local farmers to consumers directly by bypassing the unnecessary obstacles hampering local traders and using social media and organic word-of-mouth to advertise their food produce.
The Idea Behind The Local Goodness
Anne Marie Cunanan, who a few years ago founded Meaningful Travels PH—a social enterprise specializing in combining adventure travels with immersive cultural experiences and giving-back activities—came up with the idea for The Local Goodness to follow the same baseline mission of Meaningful Travels PH.
This was to build inclusive economies by doing business with micro and small businesses, especially in rural communities.
“The idea for The Local Goodness was a byproduct of our travels with Meaningful Travels PH. In our explorations of rural communities, we met farmers who served us their coffee and ginger teas, freshly harvested from their farms in the highlands.” — Anne Marie Cunanan
Since that encounter, Meaningful Travels PH started patronizing local products as part of their tour agenda. Later, Cunanan realized that helping local communities market their own farm produce necessitated a separate platform—thus the birth of The Local Goodness.
When asked about the feedback from the community, Cunanan stated that they were very happy and got excited every time an order was placed. As for the feedback from the consumers, she found out that a lot of people really wanted to support local farm produce, noting her delight that even companies were purchasing from them apart from individuals.
The Turmeric Farm in Bantey, Mountain Province
One such Local Goodness success story could be found in the highlands of the Mountain Province. It might come as a surprise to most that in the remote barangay of Bantey in the municipality of Tadian, a small group of mothers had been planting and harvesting turmeric and ginger for several years then.
One of the mothers told us that they learned about turmeric and ginger farming from a seminar conducted by DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) in their barangay. After years of doing so, they found the traditional farming process of planting, harvesting, and selling to be low-income generating because they only relied on selling their harvests within their own community.
"Before, we would sell our turmeric and ginger harvest house-to-house in our community. It was hard; we would always stop after a year and would plant again only if there was another demand—which was always in small quantities." — Local Turmeric Farmer
That changed when The Local Goodness contacted them and built a relationship with the community by offering to market their turmeric and ginger produce.
"Today, after The Local Goodness started taking orders for us, it motivated us to keep planting turmeric and ginger. Turmeric farming isn't easy because it takes almost a year to cultivate it. With the help of The Local Goodness, we cannot stop now," she added during our phone interview.
Since hooking up with the social enterprise early that year, the community had already shipped more than 100 kilos of turmeric and ginger tea to consumers in Metro Manila.
"Ma'am Anne has already made three orders from us. Now, we just sent our produce to Bontoc, and they will take care of everything to market it. No more going house-to-house for us. We will just plant and harvest," the local farmer stated.
Indeed, after many years of sowing the seeds in their community, the farmers were finally reaping the fruits of their labor. The arduous house-to-house treks were a thing of the past as their local goodness reached more consumers.
