How does Jollibee Group FoodAID provide assistance to 7.49 million (and counting!) Filipino families? It does this both by providing food to families in need, and strengthening community-based structures which makes access to affordable and nutritious food easier for communities.

One of the initiatives that FoodAID has supported is Project Karinderya, in partnership with KASAGANA-KA Development Center, Inc. and KASAGANA-KA Savings and Credit Cooperative. It has been deployed in 127 barangays in 29 cities/municipalities across Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.

The project has delivered ready-to-eat meals to 6,400 urban poor families (or 32,000 individuals) served by 320 karinderyas.

One of the beneficiaries is 29-year-old Arlene de Guzman from San Pedro, Laguna.

Arlene and her husband found themselves in dire straits during the pandemic. She worked at a massage service, but needed to commute to Pasay every day for work. As lockdown came down, she found herself unable to travel. Her husband worked at a plant, but lost his job during the pandemic. During the same period, Arlene gave birth to their first child, making the need for food access for the entire family much more necessary.

She began online selling to make ends meet, but conditions were difficult. “Sobrang wala po kaming mapagkunan ng pagkain nung araw na yun, panggastos, pambayad sa kuryente, pambayad sa bahay [There was nowhere we could get money from to pay for food, for other needs, for electricity, and for the house],” she says.

Through Project Karinderya, Arlene and her husband were able to get meals for free for 30 days. The savings they were able to make were essential to buying food and diapers for her baby.

“Swerte po,” she says. “Malaki ang natipid [It was lucky, we were able to save a lot].”

Nowadays, Arlene has more reasons to be hopeful. She has been vaccinated and is once again able to travel for work. She and her husband have a bit more resources to support their family.

She has also become a regular customer of the karinderya, owned by 31-year-old Angelyn Mimay. Angelyn has run her own karinderya in the last six years, helping support her husband and six children. During the pandemic, she saw a huge drop in sales.

Through Project Karinderya, she received training in Food Preparation, Food Safety & Cleanliness, Nutrition, and Customer Service from Jollibee Group’s Quality Management team. Equipped with her new knowledge and skills, she put in place systems to avoid cross contamination of the different dishes she served. She has also shifted her menu offering to serve more balanced meals by adding more vegetables. She improved her food presentation and displays, which made it more enticing for customers. Finally, she greeted and served her customers with care, in order to create a more welcoming atmosphere.

Angelyn continues to use her learnings, noticing how it has positively affected her business. She has seen a 50-100% increase in daily sales. According to her customers, the food she provides is delicious, and they appreciate the more nutritious portioning. She has also found that some of the beneficiaries who got food from her during the project period have continued returning as regular customers, like Arlene.

“Nakatulong po itong Project Karinderya sa akin. Nadagdagan po yung mga customer ko tapos nakatulong din po ako sa mga taong nangangailangan, yung mga hindi po kayang bumili ng ulam sa araw araw po. Nakakakain sila ng masarap at masustansya. [Project Karinderya was helpful to me. I got more customers, and was able to help people who were in need, the ones who couldn’t buy food every day. They were able to eat delicious and nutritious food.]”