Popular for its exceptional taglines and campaigns such as “Open Happiness,” “It’s the Real Thing,” and “Taste the Feeling,” the Coca-Cola Company has been providing happiness in a bottle for Filipinos for over a hundred years
While Coca-Cola has been brought into the country since 1927 when it was bottled for distribution by San Miguel Corporation, it was only in 1981 when the company was founded as Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc., before it was renamed as Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines Inc.
But while Coca-Cola is a multi-billion dollar corporation known all over the world, it also supports an array of advocacies, one of which is to empower the women when it comes to entrepreneurship.
Empowering Women through 5by20
Coca-Cola always believes in the power and strength of women in sustaining a business. In 2010, with the initiative of the Coca-Cola Company, this belief and principle have turned into a foundation helping women venture into their own businesses.
The initiative offers women to undergo business skills training courses, providing financial support and a network of mentors, while building confidence within themselves.
Coca-Cola’s 5by20 has now become a program that reaches potential entrepreneurs—from fruit farmers and recyclers to retailers and artisans—in 200 countries across the world, with the help of bottling partners.
By 2020, Coca-Cola envisions to empower five million women entrepreneurs across the globe.
And from this number is the vision of empowering 200,000 Filipina entrepreneurs.
In the Philippines, Coca-Cola has helped Pinay retailers, who are having a hard time implementing their own business ventures.
Carmelita Aspiras, who started her own sari-sari store in 2012, has faced economic and business challenges that led her neck-deep in debts. But when she joined the program, after undergoing training on business professionalism, planning, and management, she has learned how to conquer and manage these financial barriers.
“When I joined the Coke 5by20, I didn’t expect the positive effect it would have in my life. We really enjoyed our training because we learned a lot and experienced so many new things that we didn’t expect we would ever go through in our lives,” she said.
Coca-Cola’s 5by20 Sari-Sari Store Training and Access to Resources, also know as the Star Program, has helped over 130,000 women micro-entrepreneurs since 2011.
As a successful result of the Star Program, more and more empowered women move forward with confidence in facing business-related challenges, applying what they have learned and are now ready to take big steps for their businesses.
The Star Program has already been executed nationwide among 54 locations, with nearly 500 accredited facilitators. This implementation and commitment aim to help 200,000 women across the country to reach financial success.
Repatriating Overseas Filipina Workers
From among 2.2 million+ Filipino workers working abroad are about 54% Filipinas, who have gone overseas to find a better source of income in order to provide for their families here in the Philippines.
The women who eventually return to the country feel troubled how they can still provide for their families.
Coca-Cola Philippines has also reached these distressed OFWs by encouraging them to join the Star Program so that they can start their own businesses.
In partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment, Coca-Cola has come up with the Women Entrepreneurs Reintegrated and Economically Active at Home or Women Reach Program to provide livelihood training.
Participants are given access to have step-by-step entrepreneurial training, business counseling, and self-assessment, helping them identify the ideal and appropriate business model scale based on their resources and skills.
Among the business plans suggested by the participants include backyard hog and poultry raising, carinderia, sari-sari store, computer rental shop and online ready-to-wear shop.
