TACLOBAN CITY — Two young engineers in Silago, Southern Leyte are using science and technology to turn locally grown jackfruit and other agricultural crops into value-added food products as they explore opportunities to build a homegrown enterprise.
Engineers Aries Martinez and Christine Dalumpines, owners of Hulyanas Café, are developing crispy jackfruit products using vacuum frying technology with assistance from the Department of Science and Technology–Provincial Science and Technology Office (DOST-PSTO) Southern Leyte through its Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP).
The technology allows the entrepreneurs to process jackfruit into a snack with potential markets beyond Silago and into other parts of Southern Leyte and Eastern Visayas.
“We want to create a product that people can identify with Silago, a product that can introduce our municipality to the rest of the region and, at the same time, create opportunities for our people,” Martinez said.
Hulyanas Café started as a food and beverage business but has evolved into a space where the two entrepreneurs experiment with new products and production methods.
Aside from jackfruit, Martinez and Dalumpines are testing squash, vegetables and root crops as possible ingredients for additional products that could complement their café operations and meet consumer demand.
Their approach seeks to give locally available agricultural products greater value through processing, packaging and marketing, rather than selling them only as fresh produce.
The entrepreneurs also see the venture as a potential source of additional demand for local farm products and employment opportunities as their business grows.
Martinez, a graduate of the Philippine Science High School–Eastern Visayas Campus, applies his science and technology background to product testing, process improvement and experimentation with different raw materials.
Together with Dalumpines, he has adopted a trial-and-improvement approach as they work to develop food products that can eventually be produced and marketed commercially.
Through SETUP, DOST-PSTO Southern Leyte is providing technical assistance to Hulyanas Café, particularly in the use of vacuum frying technology for processing jackfruit and other local crops.
The assistance is aimed at improving the enterprise’s production capabilities and helping the entrepreneurs develop products from resources readily available in their community.
The initiative shows how science and technology can support entrepreneurship in rural communities by helping small businesses transform agricultural commodities into products with greater market value.
For Martinez and Dalumpines, the goal is to expand Hulyanas Café’s product line, reach wider markets and create livelihood opportunities for residents of Silago.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
