400,000 coronavirus cases, 7.6 million hungry families, and 4.6 million jobless Filipinos—now is the time our country needs us the most.

The COVID-19 hit our communities slowly, and then all at once. Left and right, businesses are closing. Everywhere, mass layoffs are being imposed. Truly, we are experiencing the worst economic downturn since The Great Depression.

On August 6, 2020, the government officially announced that for the first time in 29 years, the Philippine economy has fallen into recession. As of September 2020, the Department of Trade and Industry has also reported that about 90,000 small businesses in the Philippines have shut down due to the pandemic.

As the crisis continues to evolve, it’s important to remember that us consumers play a vital role in the economy and our personal finance decision-making can affect our country.

By patronizing locally made products, we support local families, create jobs for our fellow Filipinos, and bring in more money to our local community.

Stronger Together

When Human Nature introduced its Social Enterprise category in November 2012, we held in our hearts a positive vision for social entrepreneurship to become the new face of business in the Philippines.

Now, more than ever, we continue to encourage everyone to harness the power of small and make every single peso count by supporting our fellow Filipinos that aim to create a change in our community:

• Aurae Natura is an all-natural essential oil brand that works with NGOs that help with the healing of women rescued from trafficking.

With each product designed to support the freedom of human trafficking victims, Aurae Natura is an enterprise built to help uplift the lives of the poor not just materially but spiritually. When the pandemic hit, founder Des Nito faced anxieties and dipping sales with faith and practical wisdom. “Above all, our mission is to point everyone we encounter to Christ through what we say and do,” she says. Thinking fast on their feet, they developed products that help address rising needs in the new normal—improving sleep quality and overall well-being through purposefully-made essential oil blends.

• First Harvest is a proudly Filipino social enterprise that aims to enrich agricultural industries through healthy and delectable spreads made with the choicest natural ingredients.

Tanjen Sui of First Harvest started his business to support the titas and mothers of Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm in Bulacan. When they faced challenges in delivering to Metro Manila during the pandemic, he was humbled by everyone’s bayanihan spirit. The community stepped up, fully ready to make sacrifices to get through difficult times. “Usually, puro bad news this pandemic, pero sa galing ng community, naso-solusyonan ang problema,” he shares.

• Kayumanggi Organic develops healthy, high-quality food products that are authentically Filipino and truly nourish people, the way every human being deserves. They partner with farmer communities in Tago in Surigao del Sur, Alubijid in Misamis Oriental and others, to build our nation upon our land, create real value and eradicate poverty.

Living by the words “Kapatiran-Kalusugan-Kalikasan… An inner revolution for a way of living we know in our hearts to be true, good, and beautiful,” Benjamin Bernabela of Kayumanggi Organic believes in the extraordinary potential of the Filipino people and in the power of Love in Action. That’s why when orders dropped by more than half during the pandemic and many farmers were cut off from their usual market, they pivoted operations to expand product offerings and bring fresh organic produce to the city.

• Theo & Philo makes use of the Philippines’ warm tropical weather to grow exquisite, first-rate cacao to help thrust the proud homegrown chocolates into the consciousness of the world. Every bar of Theo & Philo chocolate is a masterpiece, carefully crafted to capture the rich heritage of the Filipinos.

In an effort to bring smiles to our magigiting na kababayans, Theo and Philo gave out 2,000 bars to our frontliners—a simple way of letting them know that they appreciate their hard work, courage and service.

• Bayani Brew, a social enterprise that produces delicious and healthy brews with a boost of nutrition, purchases their natural ingredients at above-market prices from farmers in Bulacan and Tarlac. Its hit beverage is the brilliant concoction of the community at Gawad Kalinga's Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan.

While this pandemic has made it extra challenging for a social enterprise like Bayani Brew, they still managed to keep their bayanihan spirit alive by donating over 10% of their sales this year to support medical frontliners with healthy, immunity boosting, sustainably farmed beverages packed with Vitamin C, Lemongrass, Pandan, Moringa, Calamansi and Dalandan.

"We are not a big company yet, but we believe that we all have to take part in the ongoing effort to recover from the turmoil that this pandemic has brought upon us," says Ron Dizon, Co-Founder of Bayani Brew.

• Habi Lifestyle offers a wide range of products that have been competing in the ethical fashion and lifestyle industry since 2011. They partner with small producers located in the urban communities of Manila and promote responsible fashion, Pinoy pride and social involvement through 100% Filipino-made, environment-friendly lifestyle accessories.

Accepting the new normal’s challenge to innovate, they have been able to manufacture more than 15,000 face masks and 1,300 PPE sets while raising 134,117 donations for 50 families.

• Basilio, a fairly traded coffee product grown by Filipino farmers all over the country, uses patented air roasting technology which helps Filipino farmers gain a significant boost versus trading raw green beans in the market.

“Keeping hope throughout this COVID-19 time, we remain optimistic in providing patrons ethically sourced traceable Filioino grown coffee,” Basilio Director of Sales & Communications Alvira Reyes says.

• Tintan’s Pastries is a Filipino social enterprise that trains and upskills women from Gawad Kalinga Baseco to become bakers, allowing them to earn and augment their family’s income.

This quarantine, Tintan’s started #BakeItForward, uplifting the spirits of 4,705 frontliners by sending them home-baked treats and goodies handmade with love. They also began what they call the “Goodness Cycle,” wherein they support the “mobile palengkes” of jeepney drivers and former construction workers who lost their livelihood during the pandemic. By buying saging na saba and lakatan from them for 3x the market price, they get to uplift the lives of their fellow Filipinos while making their bestselling Sabanoffee Pie.

• Sweet & Fit is Philippines' first natural zero-calorie sugar substitute made from Stevia Plants.

More than just providing higher income to stevia growers in Bulacan, Sweet & Fit provides community members with educational assistance, healthcare, financial training and mentoring on wellness.

• Apicuria Oral Spray is made by social enterprise The Bee Empire which advocates beekeeping as a sustainable livelihood and integral part of crop production in the Philippines.

Beekeeping allows income generation through products made by bees such as honey, wax, royal jelly and propolis. By building a community of beekeepers, The Bee Empire aspires to create a commercial value chain that produces a line of high-quality bee products.

• Precious Herbal Pillows uplifts a sewing community in San Nicolas, Bulacan by providing an income four times higher than the usual piece rate.
  
  Despite the pandemic, Precious Herbal Pillows remained committed to supporting their sewers, making sure everyone in their community was able to keep their jobs.

For many years now, Human Nature has partnered and mentored social enterprise brands who are committed to pay dignified wages, empowering their people to work hard and rise above poverty. Screened using the 6 Traits of a Genuine Social Enterprise, our partner social enterprises are committed to operate with highly ethical business practices like paying the right taxes so we can fuel our country’s growth.

Choose to Gift Hope

This year, Human Nature continues to bring gifts of hope, grace and care to our fellow Filipinos through our purposefully packed Christmas Bundles and Bulk Buys that launched last October 10.

In partnership with Gawad Kalinga, we also offer Kusina ng Kalinga Christmas Bundles, an initiative that will allow customers to give nutritious, vegetable-based meals to undernourished children nationwide by simply buying a gift for their family and friends. With every Kusina ng Kalinga Christmas Bundle purchased, 1 full meal will be donated to a hungry child in need.

Human Nature stands in solidarity with our fellow Filipinos, believing that while it’s true that we’re not all in the same boat, we’re all going through the same storm. And no matter how hard the rain is or how vicious the winds are, there is no storm that is stronger than all of us standing together. —CONTRIBUTED