30.5 C
Cagayan de Oro
Friday, March 29, 2024
spot_imgspot_img

Feature: From banker to coffee producer, an MC Coffee story

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)–After having worked in a bank for 25 years, Melvin Fabello, owner of MC Coffee, decided it was time to leave the corporate world and go full time in business.

Coming from a family where his brothers and sisters have their own businesses, he described, they had all the time if they ever decided to go to the beach on a weekday but, he, on the other hand, had to work full time in the bank.

In an interview for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Week celebration during Talakayan sa PIA, Melvin shared it was the difference of lifestyle and the freedom of time that pushed him to choose to become an entrepreneur.

“I don’t think it’s for everyone. Even for me, it did not start naturally for me, because after graduating from College, I worked in a bank. I worked in the corporate world for 25 years. It was only three years ago that I decided to avail of an early retirement from the bank. So that is when I went into business,” he shared.

MC is the acronym for Melvin and Christine (his wife), thus MC Coffee.

“We use coffee beans from Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon, so that’s where we source our coffee beans. We roast it ourselves, and we process it ourselves, so from farm to cup, we are involved in the whole process,” Melvin shared.

There were always times where he was challenged financially such as checks that needed funding.

“Not unless you are a wealthy businessman to start with, you really have a lot of cash to spend for your business. But for us that we start very small, difficulty and challenges will always be there,” he said.

But even if the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, the end result for Melvin, the business gave him lesser stress compared to his work before.

“Health wise, my face is lighter and brighter. Although a lot of white hair appeared, you can see me smiling more often now than before,” he smilingly said.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has helped a lot, he said.

“I have been to Kapatid Mentor Me training already. DTI is also now providing training on how to get Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification. A lot of training was given especially during pandemic, zoom training, how to market your product, how to label your product properly, marketing digitally, all those things we went through,” he shared.

Melvin sees a big future for MC Coffee to be at the national level, once they get their FDA license to operate.

“Maybe I can see our products in the near future, hopefully by next year already on the shelves of supermarkets. Not only in Cagayan but even in Visayas and Mindanao,” he shared.

There is scarcity of coffee beans at this point because people are now interested in pure brewed coffee. Farmers are already left in a situation where there is so much demand, but no beans anymore to supply, he said.

As a result, he said, so many people and farmers are now encouraged to plant beans because of the high demand of coffee, especially pure Arabica coffee. (JMOR/PIA-10)

- Advertisement -spot_img

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Stay Connected

5,250FansLike
449FollowersFollow
1,170SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest Articles

- Advertisement -spot_img