Makay Organic Products: Sustain, Trace and Support

By Gabriel I. Advincula

Business Counselor

Negosyo Center – Bacolod City

After years of working abroad, Maria Kay O’Brien decided to settle down in her hometown in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental and started her own business. With an initial capital of P10,000, she formulated organic soaps and test it first on her skin problems. She incorporated local herbs, essential oils, virgin coconut oils, and other components sourced from her farm.

O’Brien, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Colegio de San-Augustin in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, had spent 12 years working as a Science Coordinator for various Cambridge-accredited international schools in Indonesia.

As a Chemistry, Biology, and Physics Coordinator in Jakarta, Indonesia, she used her expertise in creating a formula without adding synthetic ingredients which can produce side effects. Trying the different types of soap on herself, she found out that they were remarkably effective.

After proven effective on her, she started selling these soaps to her friends.

Thus, Makay Organic Products was born in September 2014.

Later on, her production and sales grew bigger creating a livelihood for her local community.

She was assisted by Organic na Negros Organic Producers and Retailers Association Inc. (ONOPRA) and the DTI Negosyo Center - Bacolod City, and was able to sell her products in the major shopping malls in Bacolod City.

The DTI Negros Occidental Provincial Office provided support for the marketing and developmental aspect of her business venture by inviting her to attend various trainings and seminars such as Entrepreneurship cum Business Planning, Marketing Strategy cum Strengthening Our Access to Market, and Visual Merchandizing.

She was also referred to the Packaging Engineering Department of the Central Philippine University in Iloilo City which helped in developing a new and improved packaging for her products.

In terms of social responsibility and recognition, it gives her a new perspective that women should also have work opportunities. From having only one helper when she started the business, she now has a total of 13 personnel who assist her for all the production processes.

She hired single moms and widows to do the packaging processes in their homes in order to provide quality output. Aside from sourcing raw materials from her farm, she also buys from local farmers especially from the indigenous people of the Maghat Tribe of Hinoba-an.

Presently, she is distributing her products in 46 stores nationwide. She also supplies Makay Organic Products to her clients in other countries including Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Qatar.

O’Brien considered to expand her business by applying for a Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) license and production site compliance. Thus, she applied for a P1M from Small Business Corporation.

Through the Negosyo Center – Bacolod, she was able to acquire a trademark of her product brand which is Mikay O’ from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines. She is currently a committed mentee of the Kapatid Mentor Me Program Batch 2, a project of the DTI and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE)-Go Negosyo. 

O’Brien, at present, is also the president of ONOPRA.