Crabs and crabby may have negative meanings. But for the Navarros of Pampanga, crabs and crab paste mean a haul of satisfied horde of customers.

Navarro Foods International Inc. (Navarro’s) started in 1978 in a rickety kitchen with taba ng talangka (crab-fat paste) as its sole product. But over the years, tenacity and focus allowed it to crawl into the export market with a full line of such unique homespun goodies.

Daily, Navarro’s processes 250 kilos of crab-egg paste that make 1,000 bottles of the ready-to-eat delicacy. Its modern cold storage can hold a five-month worth of supplies. Its halal and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certifications speak for the company’s commitment to international food safety and quality standards.

“I owe much of where we are to the Department of Science and Technology [DOST],” says Gil Navarro, Navarro’s president and CEO. “Through the DOST, I learned how technology can help me boost my business.”

Modest start

On a visit to DOST-assisted projects in the province, Navarro showed Science Secretary Estrella Alabastro how his company moved forward through technology intervention.

“Look at these pictures,” he said, flashing some early ’80s photos of workers preparing sizable crab-fat paste manually.

Technology intervention

Things clambered out of the cluttered production system when Navarro enlisted for the Manufacturing Productivity Extension for Export Promotion (Mpex) program through the DOST’s Pampanga Science and Technology Center. Mpex is a program of the DOST’s Technology Application and Promotion Institute (Tapi) designed to help increase the productivity of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).

Mpex provides productivity consultancy services, business audit, training, technical assistance, venture financing and prototype development.

Through Mpex, experts made several recommendations to improve Navarro’s production system. Subsequently, Navarro applied for the DOST’s assistance through the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (Setup). Setup is the DOST’s nationwide strategy to assist SMEs in adopting technological innovations to improve their operations and enhance competitiveness.

Before Setup, Navarro’s sterilized its products using separate pressure cookers, which was tedious to say the least.

Through Setup, it acquired equipment that accelerated sterilization and significantly raised daily production. These include a steam retort, boiler, steam-jacketed kettle, double-sink table and working table.

For its counterpart, Navarro’s had to expand its plant to establish a cold storage system.

Following Setup intervention, Navarro’s achieved operational efficiency with enhanced production system from cooking to packaging, sealing, labeling, inventory and distribution, and marketing.

“We market our products mainly through exhibits” as far as New York City and China, Navarro said.

Currently, Navarro’s products are on supermarket shelves of SM, Robinsons, KCC Mall in General Santos City and other local malls, aside from food carts in malls. The products are also sold in Tri Trade International in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Industry recognitions

The improvements in Navarro’s product portfolio caught the attention of the food industry’s award-giving bodies. The company earned two Outstanding Otop SME for 2007 from the Pampanga Otop Conference and the Central Luzon Otop Recognition, Plaque of Recognition from the ISO22000:2005 Food Safety Management System, and Most Outstanding Pampanga Food and Delicacies Brand. Navarro’s is working on ISO 22000 accreditation. Otop stands for “one town, one product.”

The company also expanded its trade affiliations to include Sweets and Delicacies Association of Pampanga Inc., Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Food Exporters Association and Philippine Exporters Association.

Products

Navarro’s crab paste has several variants. Premium crab paste is made of pure crab fat, while the special type is made of crab fat with some crab meat, and the regular variety—the traditional Capampangan blend—has equal mix of crab fat and crab meat.

Crab paste is a traditional specialty of Masantol, Pampanga, that is used as side dish or ingredient to seafood, pasta dishes and other local foods such as pancit (noodles) Malabon.

Other Navarro’s products include fermented mudfish in rice (burong dalag), fermented shrimp in rice (burong hipon), pickled papaya (achara) and sautéed shrimp paste. Burong dalag and burong hipon complement fish and vegetable dishes.

Sautéed shrimp paste is mildly flavored with spices. Papaya pickle, meanwhile, is a flavorful sweet-sour blend of papaya, carrots, spices and syrup—flavorsome entrée or side dish for fried or grilled dishes.

The products come in smart export-quality packaging with the prominent sun logo. Besides these core products, Navarro’s also offers garlic peanuts, peanut brittle, uraro, tarts and other baked goods.