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How long does it take to perfectly blend wine that can satisfy the discriminating taste of customers? Others have concocted special mixtures from experience but it is said that the most special and unique are wines produced by time and fused with science and technology. Such is the story of the Alvendo’s Food Products’ wines.

 

The Family wine

The Alvendo family in Kalinga is passionate in making wines which started 15 years ago when the family’s matriarch once joined livelihood trainings conducted by a government agency. Since then, her wine production skills were developed and passed on to her children, consequently inspiring them to pursue the wine production business. Now, her children are making their own brand names popular in the wine market.

Ms. Leah Alvendo is an OFW returnee who came back home in 2014. Inspired by her mom and her siblings’ wine processing businesses, she also decided to invest her earnings abroad on fruit wine production.  Thus, she established the Alvendo Food Products in the same year in Kalinga. Currently, the firm is producing fruit wines such as bugnay, lemon, guava, guyabano, rambutan, and guava, as well as rice wine carrying the brand, Finezze Fruit Wine. 

Fusion of the family wine with S&T

With her eagerness to enhance the firm’s production and product quality, Ms. Alvendo sought the assistance of Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) of the Department of Science and Technology- Cordillera Administrative Region (DOST-CAR) through its Provincial S&T Center in Kalinga. Her Phase I project titled, “Equipment Upgrading and Improvement of Product Packaging and Labeling of Finezze Wine” was approved in 2017, while the Phase 2 was granted in 2019 with the project titled, “Continuing Improvement of Finezze Wine.

Among the assistance she acquired from DOST-CAR SETUP include technology upgrading, provision of laboratory analysis, and other technical consultancy services. The firm also acquired free training on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) on Food Safety, training and labeling on product quality improvement, and benchmarking from other wineries.   

From those S&T interventions partnered with the firm’s hard work, the Alvendo Food Products has increased its production from 7,000 bottles to 9,000 bottles annually. While the product quality was met, it was also able to develop additional five (5) fruit wine products as well as market expansion. From Tabuk City in Kalinga, Tuguegarao City, and Cagayan, the firm was able to establish 14 additional markets within and outside the region.

Alvendo’s Food Products, a socially responsible enterprise

Giving back to customers and to the society as a whole is always a priority for the firm. It continued to support agriculture and livelihood by providing free seeds collected from processed fruits to farmers for planting with an agreement that they will sell their fruits/berries to the firm, after harvest. This has also sustained and assured the continuous production of the firm as it buys raw materials fresh from farm and in return, farmers can easily sell their products directly without having to tap any middlemen in the market. Moreover, the firm is currently providing a total of 16 direct and indirect employments in the province.

Ms. Alvendo has also joined the #WeWorkAsOne to back COVID-19 frontliners and affected individuals in Kalinga. She has been an instrument for the successful pilot production of alcohol, a project of Alcohol Task Force in Kalinga where the firm is a member, together with DOST-Kalinga and Kalinga State University. She voluntarily lent her equipment be used during the pilot production and provided free trainings on wine fermentation techniques to DOST and KSU staff who are working on the production of alcohol.//FLAA, DOST-CAR

 

The Department of Science and Technology- Cordillera Administrative Region (DOST-CAR) vows to assist more vulnerable communities in CAR through science, technology, and innovations after three (3) of its Provincial Science and Technology Centers (PSTCs) pledged their support in strengthening the implementation of programs and projects in the less privileged and far-flung communities in the region.

The PSTC Benguet, headed by its Provincial S&T Director, Sheila Marie Singa- Claver, recently pledged its commitment to help in the alleviation of poverty among vulnerable communities in the province of Benguet during the launching of project SILAW (Solar Installation among Locals to Advance their Welfare) on July 9,2020 at the Ben Palispis Hall, Provincial Capitol of Benguet. Project SILAW is a TESDA-led convergence activity that aims to provide electrification to focus barangays through the provision of solar panel systems.

In support to the Project SILAW, PSTC- Benguet shall also look into the provision of S&T interventions to the focus barangays of Anjafat, Tublay; Ibarangat-Lusod, Kabayan; Badeo, Kibungan; Barangays Toplac, Pudong, Laongang-Gadang, and Ampungot- Ampungot, in Sagubo, Kapangan.

Meanwhile, PSTC Mountain Province thru its Provincial S&T Director, Alfonso K. Berto also signed a pledge of commitment in support to the Project Environmental Sustainability through Ecological Kinetics (ESEK) during its launching on June 14, 2020 at the Multi-Purpose Bldg., Bontoc, Mountain Province.

The project ESEK will be piloted at Barangay Tamboan, Besao, Mountain Province, activities of which shall include training on Organic Agriculture Production particularly on organic vegetable, organic fertilizer, organic concoction, and organic poultry and swine raising. The PSTC- Mountain Province for its part, will be providing S&T interventions such as upgrading of equipment and other technical services to be identified.

The PSTC in Kalinga also joined in the Project Kapwa Ko, Lingkod Alay (KaLingA) to be conducted in Babalag West, Rizal as it signed a pledge of commitment during the project launching on July 21, 2020 at Governor’s Hall, Capitol Hills, Bulanao, Tabuk City, represented by its PSTC Director, Jasmin Donaal. The project’s major activities include entrepreneurship training, livelihood component, and aggrupation or association wherein beneficiaries will be trained on vegetable production, poultry production, carpentry and housing.

The SILAW, ESEK, and KaLingA projects were launched in the respective provinces by the Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) of the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC), wherein DOST-CAR is among its members. These projects were created in support to the government’s Executive Order (EO) No. 70, institutionalizing the whole- of- nation approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace, and end local communist armed conflict in the country. // DOST-CAR w/ reports from PSTCs

 

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Education (DepEd) in CAR joined forces to introduce the DOST Courseware to science and mathematics teachers in the region. A web orientation on July 14-16, 2020 benefitting a total of 1,500 teachers from CAR was conducted thru the DOST-Science Education Institute (SEI). The DOST Courseware was eyed as one of the modalities in the DepEd’s blended learning approach as the region’s education system adapts to the ‘new normal’.

The DOST Courseware is an interactive multimedia educational application courseware that contains digitized and animated science and mathematics lessons, thus creating an interactive learning environment among the teachers and students. This was developed by the DOST-SEI in partnership with the DOST- Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and in cooperation with the DepEd that aims to develop information and communication technology learning innovation in support to the upgrading and improvement of science and mathematics education in the country.     

The DOST Courseware contains modules for digitized and animated science and mathematics lessons for grades one (1) to eight (8). The Science and Mathematics 1st edition Courseware for Grades 1-6 has a total of 102 modules comprising of 60 modules in Mathematics and 40 modules in Science. Moreover, the second edition for Grade 1-6 mathematics was launched in 2014. This is composed of 60 lessons divided into three parts namely: Activity, Fixing Skills and Evaluation featuring animated student-characters Aida, Dan, Ed and Tessa.

Further, the first edition for Grade 7-8 for Science and Mathematics is composed of 120 lessons. A total of 73 lessons cover the domains on matter, force, motion and energy, living things and their environment, and earth and space. Meanwhile, 60 lessons in Mathematics cover the domains on numbers and number sense, patterns and algebra, and geometry.

Additionally, the Grade 8 DOST Courseware is composed of 118 lessons covering areas on parts and functions, ecosystems, heredity, inheritance and variation of traits, structures and functions, biodiversity, and evolution for science; and 57 lessons in Mathematics covering topics on linear equations, quadratic equations, rational algebraic equations, integral exponents, radicals, arithmetic sequence, and geometric sequence. These modules are free and now available for both windows and android versions. These are also downloadable via Google Play Store as supplemental resources for teachers and students.// DOST-CAR S&T Promotion Unit

La Trinidad, Benguet - - In sync with the virtual celebration of the Cordillera Month in July, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in CAR in convergence with the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will be hosting two webinars featuring investment opportunities for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on July 2 and 7, 2020.

Featuring the theme, “One Resilient Cordillera Embracing the New Normal Towards Recovery”, the webinars seek to motivate MSMEs while they strive to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and adjust their operations to the new normal. It will showcase new opportunities for local MSMEs as it presents the latest innovations and technologies.

 

The DOST-CAR webinar titled “Bouncing Forward: Repositioning Business for a Better Normal” on July 2, 2020; 9:00am to 12:00 noon will highlight business strategies and resiliency amidst the pandemic as well as opportunities in the new normal. Resource speakers include Mr. Elmer Macalingay of Health 100 Restoreant and SETUP Cooperator, and Ms. Rebecca Josiah from the Covenant Consultants International, Inc.

 

The 2nd webinar is a feature on vacuum frying technology through the DOST-BSU Food Innovation Center on July 7, 2020 from 9:00 to 12 noon. This webinar aims to show opportunities on value-adding for vegetables into processed products. This will be especially helpful when oversupply and low prices occur in the market. A virtual forum and demo on vacuum fried carrot, potato, and squash shall be presented.

 

The free webinar will be conducted for free via google meet and livestreaming at the DOST-CAR FB Page, https://facebook.com/dostcar.gov.ph. Interested individuals may register at https://bit.ly/37XxzLN for July 2 and https://bit.ly37WDCQT for July 7 webinar.// DOST-CAR S&T Promotion Unit