Offering siomai paired with chili garlic sauce to customers of her snack house, Junnairah Adrie started her own business armed with zeal and enthusiasm. Realizing that she needed to learn more skills in order to grow her business, she went to Negosyo-Center Cotabato City for assistance.

Taking the first step, she registered her business, JBH Food Express, with DTI on October 2016. During the business consultation, the Business Counsellor (BC) of Negosyo Center-Cotabato City commended the chili garlic sauce that Adrie mixed and concocted herself.

BC Sharmagne Joyce Edio advised Adrie to further develop and market the chili garlic sauce recognizing its potential. Edio gave product development assistance specifically improvements in the product packaging, brand logo and labeling of the sauce. Through one-on-one mentoring BC Edio taught her marketing strategies especially social media marketing. Adrie was also able attend free entrepreneurial trainings organized by the Negosyo Center.

Using the new, improved brand logo and packaging, Adrie started posting photos of the chili garlic sauce in her personal facebook account as advised by the Counsellor. Realizing the power of social media in reaching out to new customers, she recounted, “After posting my chili garlic sauce product on Facebook, I started receiving inquiries from random people. Through the seminars given by DTI, I was able to accommodate new customers whom I don’t know personally. I was able to get more inquiries and land more sales for my product.”

She added, “Some orders that I’ve received were coming from other provinces outside Cotabato City. Through Facebook, I was able to get more customers and do business with them.”

Through this new social media marketing strategy, Adrie was able to get more customers and sales kept pouring in. Before the intervention of DTI, she only sells one kilogram of chili garlic sauce. But now, her sales average 32 kilograms of chili garlic sauce per month.

Along with her new marketing strategy, she not only retails her product but also offer wholesale orders. “I offer a special price to wholesale buyers who retails my product to their customers,” he said.

Adrie is now more driven to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams. She has expanded her product line to include baling or shrimp paste, cooked mud crabs and shrimps.

She is now processing her application for the License to Operate (LTO) from Food and Drug Authority and looking forward to expanding her market.