Chichacorn queen does Ilocos proud

MANILA- When Clemencia Padre started producing crispy, deep-fried corn kernels – fondly called “korniks”- from the comfort of her home, all she wanted to do was help her husband provide for their family.

That is why it never ceases to amaze her that her little business has grown so much that she no longer just serves the local market. Her korniks are now found in many homes abroad.

Clemencia’s home province of IIocos Sur is known for its korniks and many households produce and sell the native delicacy. But hers are a crunch above the rest because of the tradition of quality handed down from her mother.

Clemencia says her mother used to make korniks so she would have something to eat during her grade school years, and it was from her that she learned the basics of cooking the tasty snack.

But when the time came for her to make her own batch, she improved on her mother’s recipe. Instead of just sticking to the regular garlic flavor, she created more varieties, such as spicy, sweet, barbecue, cheese and adobo.

Her determination, entrepreneurial skill and academic background contributed to successfully transforming a backyard enterprise that was started with just P15,000 in capital into a multi-million-peso enterprise called Ilocos Food Products.

Clemencia says different forms of assistance provided by government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture were invaluable in getting her korniks business off the ground.

Her korniks, for example, were able to gain additional customers because of the trade fairs that she was able to join in Ilocos and nearby provinces.

Orders started to pour in, and Clemencia’s chichacorn production had to keep pace with the demand. So she looked for other sources of raw materials, particularly glutinous white corn, with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit 1, and the provincial and the municipal government of Ilocos Sur and Bantay, respectively.

Since then, Clemencia has maintained a pool of corn growers and suppliers, who planted hybrid varieties and employed sustainable technologies, such as the use of trichogramma against corn borers.

Clemencia and her husband Domingo also coordinated with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which designed and provided needed equipment for their factory.

Thus, they were able to mechanize their operations.

Clemencia would have been happy producing just korniks but because of a corn shortage in October 1995 caused by El Niño, she turned to producing banana chips, which fortunately clicked, and called them “chichabanana.”

Seeing that ‘lady luck’ was firmly on her side, Clemencia boldly ventured into other products: vinegar (from sugarcane); “basi,” a distinct Ilocano wine made from fermented sugarcane juice; and roasted peanuts.

Today, Clemencia is producing a range of Ilocos food products that she supplies to supermarkets here and abroad, including the United States , Hong Kong , Singapore , and Canada .

She is also bent on penetrating Europe and Saudi Arabia , which has a considerable Filipino community that is willing to pay good money for food from back home.

Clemencia says she continues to work hard so that when Filipinos abroad look for chichacorn or korniks, they would reach out for hers.

(This article was lifted from the book, “The Art of Agribusiness, 111 and more Success Stories in Agri-Entrepreneurship”© by Atty. Arthur C. Yap. The book was launched in November to encourage Filipinos to get into agri-entrepreneurship as a profitable business venture).