The Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) will form regional and national councils to standardize the 24 Dairy Box Stores in the country following its agreement with its clients and carabao-based enterprise development (CBED) coordinators to form such body.
The agreement was made during the conduct of the Dairy Box Standardization Workshop of DA-PCC in Iloilo (for Visayas and Mindanao clusters) and Baguio City (Luzon cluster) last June 1-2 and July 7-8, respectively.
Dairy Box is a physical store, which brings the carabao farmers’ buffalo-derived products closer to the market. It was launched by the DA-PCC in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija in 2015 and continuously multiplying across the country after the said launching.
Dairy Box Standardization lead and Project Evaluation Officer Jan Czarina Salas said that the initiative for the purpose started when the DA-PCC observed that the multiplication of the said stores varies when it comes to branding and operations, hence, the need to form regional and national councils that will oversee such concerns.
Based on the agreement, the regional and national councils will each have an organized set of officers including its chairperson, vice-chairperson, and others.
The regional council will be formed in the 12 regional centers of DA-PCC across the country, while the national council will be organized through the election of chairpersons coming from the regional councils. It will be composed of stakeholders coming from both the public and private sectors, including the farmer-beneficiaries of the Dairy Boxes and the DA-PCC. Said councils will also be assisted by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) whose services include formulation of sound policies, plans and program for both of the public and private sectors.
The workshop was conducted through lectures and hands-on training. Dr. Edilyn Lansangan, DA-PCC Financial Analyst Giselle Sacupaso, and DA-PCC Science Research Specialist Pauline Maramag served as the resource persons during the activity. They talked about competitive marketing strategies for dairy retail store operations, inventory and basic cash management, and record management tools.
Initial deliberation and sharing on the following items were also discussed as part of the urgent concerns that need to be addressed by the councils: (1) Product Mix, (2) Store Merchandizing, (3) Marketing and Promotion, (4) Record Keeping, and Cash and Inventory Management, (5) Guidelines in Promotion and Distribution; and (6) creation of partnership and sustainability programs particularly in the hiring of focal person per regional centers and partner qualification and incentive mechanism.
