“Do what you love… the money will follow.” This is the title of the book I recently bought. Glancing at the title reminds me of one lady, who, because of her hobby, is now into a successful technology business venture: handmade papermaking!!!

Mrs. Lolita Cabanlet… “Luchi” to her friends, epitomizes that book title. She practically pursues what she loves and enjoys doing, and in the process, paved the way for the birth of Cagayan de Oro Handmade Paper Crafts (CDO-HMPC) in 1993.

How did she start on handmade papermaking? More than 10 years ago, she and her husband-lawyer, Virgilio, went on a pleasure trip to Southeast Asia. During those visits, she has found herself giving a keen interest on handpaper products from Japan, Thailand and India. She has noted that Japan uses the bark of a shrub, Thailand uses mulberry wastes while India uses cotton to make handmade paper. Luchi noted that the handmade papers from these countries are soft, compared to the Philippines’ which is stiff due to its strength drawn from the abaca fibers and cogon grass, which is what most of her foreign buyers prefer.

Having that latent talent in handicrafts herself, she has started to do research on handmade paper. She went to trade fairs to know about the business, and even visited some handmade paper plants in Bicol and Manila, including SHAPII in Salay, Misamis Oriental. At that time, she was more interested in product design.

Using handmade sheets she bought from other outlets, she started making her own products. She was, however, inspired by orders which kept coming in; thus, she decided that she should go into handmade paper production herself. Armed with her basic knowledge on handmade paper making, she started her own home-based papers, using blenders. The initial products were encouraging that her husband become very supportive of her infant business venture and gave her additional financial assistance.

After three broken blenders, her business flourished, and orders kept pouring in. She decided that it was time for her to hire additional hands. Through the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Provincial Science and Technology Center in Misamis Oriental, a basic training on handmade papermaking was conducted for her workers.

Business continued to prosper that she could not keep up with the orders anymore. She sought the assistance of DOST Regional Office No. 10 (DOST-10) based in Cagayan de Oro City. The financial aid was used to buy an oven, hot plate dryers and motorized beaters. The assistance made a big difference in her business, and in fact, increased her production output several folds. It also was able to solve her major problem on paper molds, which has been the main reason why some of her past purchase orders have been shelved.

Five years later, and inspired by the continuous orders from both local and international market, she again sought the assistance of DOST-10. The P1M loan extended by the DOST-10 through its Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP) was used for the installation of additional beaters, kiln dyer, mechanical screw press, fiber cooker, fiber squeezer, univats, dying tubs and a roller presser. These new equipment made a significant impact to the business as they made handmade papermaking highly-efficient and cost-effective.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) took notice of her products and encouraged her to join regional and national trade fairs. The exposure gave her insights on how to improve her products. DTI‘s CITEM assisted her with product development, specifically on designing. To keep pace with the latest in designs, she also participates in various Fashion Accessories Market Encounter (FAME) organized by CITEM. Through these trade fairs and market encounters, she was able to get more buyers, locally and internationally.

Today, the “hobby” which started in the kitchen, has gone a long way. The business is now housed in a two-storey plant located in a 1000 sq.m. area in Barra, Opol, Misamis Oriental. It employs more than 200 people during peak production, about a hundred of them are on contractual/per piece basis. Seven regular staff man the business which include the general manager, two production managers: one each for paper production and crafts, quality control officer, administrative officer, bookkeeper, and in-house designer.

All the family members are presently involved in the business, too. Her eldest daughter Zara, who just graduated from the Ateneo de Manila Law School, has been instrumental in drawing-up Memorandum of Agreement with the buyers and reviewing contracts. The second child, JB, who graduated with a degree in Economics and is now pursuing his master’s degree in entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), serves as the General Manager. Nicole the third child , who is graduating with a degree in Interior Design from College of St. Benilde (La Salle) takes charge of the in-house designing, along with Luchi. The youngest daughter, Eunice, a junior in Development Communications at Xavier University, takes care of product brochure and trade fair display . Of course, the couple is there to oversee the whole business. Pretty soon, Luchi herself would be retiring from her job as Manager of the Management Services Division of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to give full-time attention to the business.

Aside from the local market, the CDO-HMPC boasted of having penetrated the world market which includes the USA, Japan, Fiji Islands, Qatar, Kuwait, Hongkong, Australia, and yes, seven countries in Europe. Her number one buyer is from Belgium. In fact, she just received a purchase order that would keep them busy for the next six months.

When asked if she is not afraid her buyers would be grabbed by others, she quickly responded, “I consider my buyers as friends…and as friends, they are for life. I try to make my products as unique and as of good quality, so my buyers would stay with me.” She happily shared that her buyer from Belgium has tried buying from others, but came back to her after finding out that our papers are far superior in quality. The owner of that Belgian company visits the plant twice a year, the last time of which was last July 10-12, 2005. He also introduces new designs and products.

She is not also concerned about her product designs being copied by others, and she has this to say: “Once your products are on the shelves, you don’t have control over the design anymore. Your only edge is that you are ahead in the market and that you are the original and others will simply follow.” Take it from this very practical businesswoman.

What does she think makes her products thrive despite the stiff competition? Without hesitation, she said, “It is the high quality craftsmanship and unique designs which give CDO-HMPC the competitive edge in this highly-volatile market. Quality and design are the lifeblood of this business.”

“We limit our product designs to three kinds of flowers only, to be able to be differentiated from other handmade paper products. We also use fossilized leaves, buttons from coconuts and twigs,” she proudly shared.

She is unfazed by the challenges that go with this kind of business where market is erratic. She says she is poised to focus more on product development and looking for more buyers. For now, she is not worried.
“I could not simply depend on local market only, as the orders are not frequent. It could not sustain the business. I am very lucky that with my foreign buyers, CDO-HMPC is assured of sustained production.”

What is her driving force to keep her business going? She happily snapped, “DOST has always been there to assist us. Without DOST, we could have closed shop many years ago…” For more information about CDO-HMPC, you can visit their website: www.cdohandmadepaper.com