Coca-Cola celebrates a successful decade of empowering 250,000 women entrepreneurs in the Philippines

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The company’s women economic empowerment programs have reached every region and province of the Philippines

Coca-Cola believes that improving women’s economic conditions enables the creation of more empowered communities. In 2010, the beverage company made a global commitment to empower 5 million women across its value chain by 2020. Today, on International Women’s Day, Coca-Cola announced that it has surpassed its global goal, enabling more than 6 million women through 318 programs across 100 countries. Here in the Philippines, Coca-Cola announced that it has successfully supported the economic empowerment of about 250,000 women retailers all over the Philippines—this represents 21% of the total universe of small sari-sari store owners in the country.

Coca-Cola Philippines iSTAR MoA Signing :

Last October 2020, Coca-Cola Philippines and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) launched the STAR program’s digital roadmap, iSTAR. With this program, Coca-Cola Philippines is expected to reach more Filipinos to become economically empowered as entrepreneurs.

“Through this program over the last decade, we’ve seen women creating a ripple effect of change. As we move forward in this new decade, we will continue our commitment to fostering gender equality and support women as they challenge the barriers and the Kababae Mong Tao (Unlady-like) narratives in our society,” says Tony del Rosario, president of Coca-Cola Philippines and vice president for franchise operations of the East Region for Coca-Cola ASEAN and South Pacific. “This is good for society, good for business, and good for socio-economic progress.”

Coca-Cola Philippines ReSTART Program

An additional PHP27 million fund targets to help additional 5,000 micro-retailers through Coca-Cola ReSTART program. This program aims to provide financial support and educational resources to help and educate micro-retailers on how to safely operate in times of pandemic.

A decade ago, the Philippines was selected as one of a handful of global lead markets to pilot the 5by20 initiative. Realizing that the full potential of women can only be achieved by investing and creating an enabling environment where women can succeed, Coca-Cola Philippines has made incredible strides in empowering and advancing women across its value chain. Over the last decade, the 5by20 program has reached all 17 regions and 81 provinces of the country, which includes sari-sari store owners, carinderia owners, repatriated OFWs, artisan women, and women in operations. For those in Coca-Cola’s external value chain, the company provides business skills training, financial services, and peer mentoring support.

Coca-Cola Philippines OFW RISE Program

Through Coca-Cola Philippines’ OFW Re-Integration through Skills and Entrepreneurship Program or OFW RISE, 10,000 returning OFWs can make their dream of having their own business and staying with their family come true. Currently, 2,743 OFWs are enrolled in the program.

Women as the best investment to spur economic growth

The journey of Coca-Cola towards women economic empowerment here in the Philippines started in 2011 with the pilot program of the 5by20 Sari-Sari Stores Training and Access to Resources (STAR) Program. In partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the STAR program for the past decade and until today helps women overcome barriers to achieving their full potential.

Globally-referenced as a case study on effective business-sustainability initiatives and identified as one of the country’s first business training modules that provides Gender Sensitivity Training, the STAR program continues to emphasize the critical role women play in their families and communities, at the same time, in fostering economic growth.

A 2020 report of the program’s impact revealed that 97% of the women participants found the women economic programs beneficial in their business management.

“Coca-Cola Philippines wouldn’t be where it is today without the strategic role that women play as a key pillar of our business success,” says Jonah de Lumen-Pernia, public affairs and sustainability director of Coca-Cola Philippines. “Supporting women and small retailers will always be a priority for us. When women are empowered, their valuable contribution is not only seen within their families nor in the communities; but in the vibrancy of the economy as well.”

Since its inception, Coca-Cola has built many partnerships and engagements anchored in women’s economic empowerment. The STAR Program has evolved into several other initiatives in response to the prevailing needs of women and sub-sectors—working closely with various government agencies, civil society organizations, and micro-finance institutions. To date, the STAR Program has expanded to sub-initiatives such as iSTAR, STAR Ka-Asenso, ReSTART, Women Artisans of Tondo, PASCO, STAR Rebuild, Women REACH, and OFW Rise, which continue to advance the gender equality agenda.

Coca-Cola and women towards a better shared future

Even after a decade of active participation in the sphere of women empowerment, Coca-Cola Philippines understands that supporting women and communities continues to be essential for economies to thrive into the next decade and beyond.

“Since last year, we have pivoted some of our women economic initiatives to support small retailers in restarting and recovering through the pandemic,” del Rosario further added. “Though we have surpassed our 2020 goal here in the Philippines and globally, the story of resilience and empowerment will continue, and we remain committed to helping women and communities thrive in line with our purpose of refreshing the world and making a difference,” he concluded.

The initiatives of Coca-Cola Philippines have produced positive results and unlocked the full economic potential of women through the support of like-minded organizations from the government: TESDA, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) – OWWA & NRCO, the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) – an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Local Government Units (LGUs); civil-society organizations: Small Business Corporations, and USAID; and micro-finance institutions: Tagum City Council of Women (TCCWI), the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), First Community Cooperative (FICCO), Alalay Sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ASKI), and ASA Philippines.

To learn more about the women economic empowerment vision of Coca-Cola, visit https://www.coca-colacompany.com/shared-future/women-empowerment. #

About Coca-Cola in the Philippines

Coca-Cola has been refreshing Filipinos and making a difference in the Philippines for 109 years. The Philippines was Coca-Cola’s first market in Asia to begin local bottling operations. Today, the Coca-Cola system in the Philippines has evolved into a total beverage company, offering a diverse portfolio of brands in its beverage portfolio and employing over 15,000 Filipinos in over 19 manufacturing facilities and more than 60 distribution centers nationwide. As part of its long-standing commitment to the country, Coca-Cola continues to #GOBEYONDGOOD as a business by continuously supporting safe water access programs in over 250 communities, empowering around 250,000 women entrepreneurs through training and peer mentoring, and accelerating packaging collection and recycling under its global World Without Waste initiative

UBX chief to utilize expertise in building-up start-ups as The Final Pitch Season 6 investor judge

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UBX President and CEO John Januszczak has recently joined the latest season of long-running, entrepreneurial-themed reality show The Final Pitch as an investor judge. This marks the very first that a fintech company joins the show and reflects UBX's continuous efforts in accelerating MSME success by incubating start-up businesses in the Philippines.

As an investor judge, Januszczak brings to the judging table an expansive wealth of knowledge and expertise in building start-ups from the ground up, which comes from his experience in leading UBX in its mission to support the country’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and help them thrive in the digital economy.

As the fintech spinoff and corporate venture arm of Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), UBX has been at the forefront of incubating start-ups and business ideas in the country by utilizing innovation and co-creation to deliver pioneering solutions that enable growth and expansion, empowering entrepreneurs and enabling their businesses to achieve their full potential.

Among these solutions is SeekCap, UBX’s online lending platform and the first online lending marketplace in the Philippines. Since its launch, SeekCap has processed over P1.5B worth of business loans and has helped more than 38,000 businesses, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when many of them needed financial support just to stay afloat.

There is also Sentro, the country’s first end-to-end e-commerce builder, which allows entrepreneurs to create their very own fully-featured online store even with little to zero tech know-how. More than 29,000 businesses in the country have successfully digitized their businesses thanks to Sentro, allowing them to thrive amid the recent growth of the e-commerce sector as a result of the pandemic.

Another industry-pioneering solution that is aligned with UBX’s efforts in incubating the next big Filipino entrepreneur is Bux, an end-to-end platform provides business owners with a wide selection of payment methods and channels depending on their needs or preference. To date, Bux has helped more than 100,000 businesses streamline their e-commerce payment process.

Through these solutions, UBX has become the biggest incubator of start-ups in the Philippines, giving burgeoning entrepreneurs secure footing in an era where being digital has become a must, made even more challenging by an unprecedented global health crisis. But these solutions aren’t the only capabilities of UBX when it comes to supporting start-ups.

“We’re very interested in investing in ideas, in founders, and talented entrepreneurs. We can invest in external or stand-alone ventures through our venture fund. We also have our venture studio which could make sense for someone who has a smaller team but needs the resources of an incubator/accelerator to bring their startup to market. UBX will provide individuals who have a great idea with a framework and assistance that will validate it and give capital and resources to bring it to scale,” Januszczak said.

PayMaya brings Php1-M 'grand aguinaldo' to QC employee and Gawad Kalinga

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For Stefan Ema Mae Corregidor, the joy of going cashless became sweeter when she learned that she won the Php1-million grand prize in the PayMayaguinaldo Raffle Promo. With this prize money, the 31-year-old employee from Quezon City is sharing and giving back the joy to her family by building a home for her mother who is currently residing in Davao City.

What made the news priceless for Stefan is also knowing that through the PayMayaguinaldo Raffle Promo, another Php1-million worth of "aguinaldo" is being given to the Gawad Kalinga School for Experiential & Entrepreneurial Development (GK-SEED) Philippines to help graduates who have set up their own enterprises accelerate the growth of their business.

As Filipinos celebrated a more somber holiday season due to COVID-19, PayMaya thought of how to make its PayMayaguinaldo promo more rewarding. First, it gave PayMaya users a chance to win 1 million pesos by simply paying via PayMaya QR and their PayMaya registered mobile number at partner merchants or purchasing prepaid load and other treats at the PayMaya in-app shop.

On top of this, PayMaya aimed to share the blessing with agri-entrepreneurs from underprivileged communities through GK-SEED Philippines. For the past three years, PayMaya has chosen GK-SEED as campaign beneficiary because of its track record in helping the youth overcome poverty through education and entrepreneurship.

“Amid the global pandemic, millions of Filipinos have joined the ‘cashless’ revolution for safer and more convenient payments. With our PayMayaguinaldo promo rewards and cashback, we provided a merrier way to pay. The experience was also made extra rewarding as our promo campaign gave our customers the means to give back to the community by helping support student scholars of GK-SEED and overall foster agri-entrepreneurship,” said Mark Dee, Head of Growth Marketing and Partnerships at PayMaya Philippines.

For Stefan, she discovered PayMaya during the community quarantine. After using the PayMaya app for government bills payments the first time, she has been continuously enjoying the convenience and rewards every time she pays bills, shops online, buys load, among others. From doing cash transactions, Stefan has also shifted to PayMaya for sending money to her loved ones and family members. It eliminated the hassles of travelling to payment centers and lining up to just to send funds.

“PayMaya helped in making my life easier amid the pandemic as it offered a safer, more convenient and rewarding way to pay for my transactions whether online or in-store. With this, I’m able to enjoy the benefits of going cashless and avoid the use of cash which can be the source of the virus.” said Stefan.

Meanwhile, for GK-SEED, PayMaya's "aguinaldo" will go towards providing a combination of live and virtual mentorship to its graduate scholars and kickstart resources to support their agri-enterprises.

“We’d like to thank PayMaya for the continued support for our young students who are the greatest gems of our institution. This 'PayMayaguinaldo' will help strengthen our mission in empowering agri-entrepreneurs to build a better and stronger country,” said Mark Lawrence Cruz, GK-SEED School Director.

Getting your own PayMaya account and enjoying the rewards of going cashless is very easy. Just download the PayMaya app at https://official.paymaya.com/CAK1/425eb133 and register an account to find out what it’s like to go cashless with the fastest, safest, and most rewarding way to pay for anything online and in stores! Remember, for your everyday needs, don’t pay cash. PayMaya!

PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines with platforms and services that cut across consumers, merchants, communities, and government. Through its enterprise business, it is the largest digital payments processor for key industries in the country including "everyday" merchants such as the largest retail, food, gas, and eCommerce merchants as well as government agencies and units.

Through its app and wallet, PayMaya provides over 28 million Filipinos with access to financial services. Customers can conveniently pay, add money, cash out or remit through its over 200,000 digital touchpoints nationwide. Its Smart Padala by PayMaya network of over 37,000 partner agent touchpoints nationwide serves as last-mile digital financial hubs in communities, providing the unbanked and underserved with access to digital services. To know more about PayMaya's products and services, visit www.PayMaya.comor follow @PayMayaOfficial on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

Jolina Magdangal Discovers A New Jolly Way of Snacking! Sweet, Crunchy, Sarap! #MAISnack Ka Na!

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To say that being a mother is the most rewarding role any woman can have is an understatement. Nothing compares to the sheer joy of watching your child grow up into a jolly, healthy youngster. However, one cannot deny the fact that being a mom is not without its challenges. And any mom will tell you that one of the biggest challenges is what snack to serve especially these days when kids are at home 24/7.

For Jolina Magdangal, pop icon, singer, actress, TV host, wife, and more importantly, mother to Pele (7 years old) and Vika (2 years old), preparing the right kind of snack has always been a bit of an issue, especially with the busy schedule that she keeps.

“It’s difficult sometimes,” Jolina discloses. “There were instances when I didn’t know what to serve Pele anymore. And you know how kids are, they don’t like having the same thing. It’s a good thing there’s Jolly Corn!”

As the newest face of Jolly Corn, Jolina did not only discover a new jolly way to snacking but also afforded her the opportunity to give Pele a quick and easy, healthy fun snack that they can both enjoy.

“The quick to open Jolly Corn is the perfect merienda treat: just open the tab, get a spoon, and #MAISnack ka na!,” Jolina says.

The sweet, crunch, sarap Jolly Corn is not just enjoyed straight from the can, which Pele absolutely likes, but it can also be prepared in many ways: as dessert, part of a salad, or with your main dishes.

Some of the more popular recipes with Jolly Corn include Cheesy Corn, where cheese powder is sprinkled on warm Jolly Corn and eaten as snack; Mais Con Yelo, a cold dessert using shaved ice and condensed milk; and Maja Blanca, a favorite Filipino dessert with coconut milk. Buko salad and vegetable salad are also best prepared with Jolly Corn, and buttered corn with carrots is the perfect side dish with main dishes.

Jolina, who has 1.7M Instagram followers and is also a popular talk show host, is grateful for being the new endorser of Jolly Corn. “Thank you to my new family, the Jolly Family. Enjoy na enjoy ang buong family namin dahil laging #MAISnack na kami! Sweet, crunchy, sarap!” she quips.

Jolly Corn is available in all supermarkets, groceries, public markets, and convenience stores nationwide and on Lazada, Shopee, and Acemarket.ph. Follow Jolly Eats Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/JollyFoods for more information and recipes.

Fly Ace Corporation is one of the leading food and beverage consumer goods companies in the country today. Propelling limitless multiple-category growth by bringing the best of the world closer to Filipino consumers, Fly Ace Corporation’s portfolio of food and beverage products includes house brands and exclusively distributed brands. To learn more about Fly Ace, visit www.flyacecorp.com.

JOLLY is a canned fruits and vegetable line marketed and exclusively distributed by Fly Ace Corp. For more updates, visit jolly.com.ph or like its official Facebook fanpage or follow via Instagram (@jollyeatsph).

Ensuring safety inside and out this 2021 with Grab and HELLA

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Manila, Philippines - The year 2020 underscored the immense priority that should be placed on everyone’s health and safety. This 2021, HELLA, a leading European manufacturer of auto parts, partners with Grab Philippines to ensure transport safety inside and out.

Last year, Grab instituted various health and safety protocols for its operational services to help protect its drivers and consumers. Despite facing risks, partner drivers continue to be at the frontlines to provide services needed by the public. As an extra layer of safety and to also reward their hard work and contribution, HELLA partners with Grab to offer its drivers more benefits. This enables them to reduce costs and equip their vehicles with the parts that matter.

“Grab has been providing essential services to many Filipinos over the course of the varying quarantine classifications. With the immense pressure and demand placed on their partner drivers, HELLA wants to thank them by providing them with exclusive access to quality, reliable, and more affordable aftermarket parts. This will not only help them keep their vehicles in check but also provide protection to their livelihood and source of income while they continue to serve the greater community,” said Jason De Leon, HELLA Country Manager for Philippines.

Beginning last December, Grab drivers can avail of a wide range of HELLA  parts such as horns, bulbs, wipers, and dash cams at select retail stores and detailing workshops. Exclusively available to this partnership, drivers can get up to 30% discount for every HELLA part that they purchase and receive special partnership freebies.

“As we help our economy and businesses to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, safe and reliable transport solutions and delivery services will remain important factor for many of our kababayans. We are excited to be working alongside HELLA in providing our drivers and delivery riders with means to help maintain their vehicles so that they can serve our customers and businesses safely and more efficiently,” said Grab Philippines Head of Transport and Shared Services Ronald Roda.

The exclusive promo extends until May 31, 2021. Grab drivers can access the full list of participating retail stores and detailing workshops via the HELLA website. (https://www.hella.com/hella-sg/assets/media/Grab-HELLA_Philippines_Special_promotions.pdf)

HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA, Lippstadt: HELLA is a global, family-owned company, listed on the stock exchange, with almost 40,000 employees at over 125 locations in some 35 countries. The HELLA Group develops and manufactures products for lighting technology and electronics for the automotive industry and also has one of the largest retail organisations for automotive parts, accessories, diagnostics, and services within Europe. With nearly 7,000 people working in research and development, HELLA is one of the most important innovation drivers on the market. Furthermore, with sales of 6.6 billion euros in the fiscal year of 2016/2017, the HELLA Group is one of the top 40 automotive parts suppliers in the world and one of the 100 largest German industrial companies.

HELLA Asia Singapore Pte Ltd: Strategically located in Singapore, HELLA Asia Singapore Pte Ltd is the regional headquarters for the Independent Aftermarket and Special OE segments in the Asia Pacific region. Established in August 2001, HELLA Asia Singapore has since gained a strong foothold with regional presence offering to its customers the benefits of global expertise supplemented by local market knowledge. The company offers an extensive range of lighting, electrics, electronics, universal range, thermal management and brake systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

Grab is Southeast Asia's leading Online to Offline (O2O) mobile platform, providing the everyday services that matter most to consumers. Grab Provides access to safe and affordable transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services. Grab’s core product platform includes transport solutions for drivers and passengers with an emphasis on convenience, safety and reliability, as well as its proprietary mobile payment platform, GrabPay.