The country’s largest Filipino-owned coffee company plans to expand operations this year by opening up one or two outlets each month, or a total of 18 stores before the year ends.

Figaro Coffee Co. sets aside a total of P78 million to fund the increase of its 65 coffee shops in the Philippines. Marketing manager of Figaro Coffee Systems Inc., Ace L. Azarraga, noted that each store has an estimated cost of P6.5 million. They have just opened two stores recently, one in DBP Makati and the other in Dasmarinas, Cavite.

“Figaro Coffee Company is now keeping a critical eye on expanding in our home-market, which will focus mostly on business districts around the country as we want more and more people to experience our local barako coffee,” Azarraga said.

The DBP Makati branch is a full store carrying their complete line-up of coffee drinks, breakfast, pasta, pizza, all day breakfast, ala carte, sandwhiches and pastries. The store is located at the ground floor of DBP building, Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., cor. Makati Ave., Makati City., which is perfect for business and casual meetings.

Figaro’s expansion program is in line with its tradition to continue serving the finest native barako coffee in the country by opening more outlets. “As we continue to expand, more and more Filipino coffee farmers are benefited. Figaro Coffee Company only buys local coffee beans,” Azarraga said.

Of the 65 Figaro branches nationwide, most of which are in Luzon, 35 are franchise-owned and 30 are company-owned.

Figaro was established in 1993 and is  a 100-percent Filipino-owned company whose product lines include specialty roasted local coffee varieties and various coffee-related paraphernalia.

Many businesses know and understand the power of internet. If you are one of those entrepreneurs who has not jumped in on the robust benefit of internet marketing, you could be losing a lot. You and your business can get maximum exposure and reach more prospective customers if you learn how to maximize web presence.

You do not need to do by yourself though, especially if it just your first foray into the internet. You can seek assistance from search engine automation (SEO) expert to help your get more exposure by landing on the first pages of Google and Yahoo! for products and services that you offer.

You can seek professional help as there are many internet marketing experts who can help you get your product out there faster, maximize the benefits that it offers, and give possible customer a reason to purchase your product. It may cost you more, but it could be worth it, especially if its giving you a faster return on your investments.

If you are tight on budget, you may consider the free online social network like Facebook, Multiply and lots more. These social networks allow you to sign up for free. Through their many members, in which you can connect to, you can introduce your products and services, giving you a test on the market before you fully jump in on the mainstream.

Whatever method you choose, just be sure to consider internet exposure in your marketing strategies.

A new remittance system that will allow for a safer, faster and cheaper remittances by OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) will be implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) starting on the third quarter of the year.

This is the new Philippine Payments and Settlements System or Philpass Remit System. Under this new system, the fee will be reduced to P50 per remittance transaction, resulting to savings of P100 to P500, as the current system charges ranges from P150 to P550.

BSP said the Philpass Remit System ensures safer, faster and cheaper means of remittance transaction.

The system involves the use of the BSP-Philpass as the local clearinghouse for the transfer of remittances from a local bank to another bank where the OFW beneficiary maintains an account.

This project was undertaken jointly by the BSP with the Association of Bank Remittance Officers Inc. (ABROI) through a memorandum of agreement signed last December.

The scheduled implementation of the project was supposed in the first quarter of the year, however, only one bank was able to migrate to the new system since the MOA was signed.

The central bank said they will need to wait for the other member banks to resolve their issues on hardware and system connectivity, so they can finally migrate before the new remittance system will be fully operational.

RCBC Bankard recently launched a new credit card which is targeted to serve the upscale needs of discerning shoppers.

The new credit card from RCBC was created in tie-up with Barcelona-based clothing brand Mango and Mastercard. Called the Mango-RCBC Bankard MasterCard, it is the latest addition to MasterCard’s growing roster of value-driven cards.

Holders of Mango-RCBC Bankard MasterCard could avail of of exclusive members-only sale from Mango, one of Europe’s multinational brands renowned globally for designing, manufacturing and marketing stylish women’s and men’s clothing accessories. They would also have priority access to next season’s catalog features and first hand advice on the latest offers.

Aside from those, cardholders are also included in a rewards program that enables them to earn reward points that can be exchanged for Mango items.

And being a MasterCard, it can be used in over 200 countries worldwide, including of course, in any of the 1,223 Mango stores located in 92 countries around the world.

Oscar Biason, president and CEO of RCBC Bankard said, “Most women nowadays are decision-makers who live multi-functional roles. As such, they have disposable incomes that let them spend on their priorities, one of which is shopping for nice clothes. With the launch of Mango-RCBC Bankard MasterCard, we help empower a lot of women by giving them more choices to indulge their flair for fashion, thanks to the many privileges and perks that the card offers.”

RCBC Bankard is one of the leading credit card issuers known for delivering innovative products of the best value and quality supported by superb service.

Looking for new skills that you can turn into a business? Here’s an interesting seminar on meat and fish processing.

A one-day seminar on meat and fish processing will be conducted by the Golden Treasure Skills Development Program. It will be held at the PTTC, Department of Trade and Industry Bldg. (DTI) Roxas Blvd., cor. Sen Gil Puyat Ave on March 13, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Among the topics to be discussed during the seminar are: sourcing of materials and costing.

Participants will be thought how to make tocino, skinless longganisa, chinese sausage, embutido, chicen nuggets, chicken and pork ham, pork kikiam, fish ball, fish fillet, spanish and tomato sardine, fish burger, squid ball, and corned beef.

As a bonus to the participants, topics on how to make vegetable preserved (i.e. achara from paypaya, carrot, sayote, ampalaya, etc.)

Certificate of training will handed out to participant right after the seminar. Lunch and snack will also be served, handouts and all the raw materials for hands-on will be provided.

All inquiries regarding this seminar should all be addressed to telephone numbers (02) 913-6541; 436-7826; 421-1577 and 433-7601. You can also check their website at www.GoldenTreasureSkills.com

Bibingkinitan! The dealer of those delicious mini-bibingka, is embarking on an agressive expansion binge. Now a fast-rising Filipino food chain, Bibingkinitan! is expanding and is targeting about 100 new outlets by the end of this year.

President and CEO of FoodAsia Corp., Richard V. Sans, said that half of the new stores would be owned by the company and the other half would be franchised. FoodAsia is the mother firm of Bibingkinitan!

The company’s focus, according to Sanz, is to establish more outlets in smaller-size malls and roadside locations in provincial cities and capital town. He said they have already saturated the big malls, and their direction now is going to smaller malls and provincial cities and towns.

Aside from their delicious mini-bibingka, their products now include “pancit in bilaos” and “Bar-B-Q” for take-out. The company wants to position Bibingkinitan! as the preferred brand for parties, gatherings and take-home food packages.

Sanz claims that Bibingkinitan! is now a recognized brand. Even banks like the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is offering loan without collateral to its prospective franchisees.

He said Bibingkinitan! is now a recognized and established brand, with the Bank of the Philippines (BPI) even offering a collateral-free loan to its prospective franchisees.

The company has also come up with its own “Franchise Lite” package under which franchisees can pay the franchise cost in six months at zero interest and no down payment.

If you’re interested, you visit the Bibingkinitan! website.

In the advent of digital photography, traditional film and print business suffered a setback. That’s why in May 2007, Kodak Philippines decided to close office and maintained only distributors in the country. Now, after two years of being represented only by its distributors in the country, Kodak makes a grand comeback as it re-opened its Kodak Phils. Ltd. office.

Cathy Pacia, Country Business Manager for Retail Printing, said the company felt it’s the right time to reinforce its presence in the country and keep pace with the growth of the local imaging sector.

With its array of innovative products ranging from its fast-moving paper and consumer film products, trendy digital cameras, cost-effective and eco-friendly digital printers, as well as creative photo gift items for all occasion, the company is gearing up to further grow the Kodak business in the Philippines.

“We are in exciting times when digital technology has inspired Kodak worldwide to grow by leaps and bounds with its product offerings. Kodak has indeed done a good balancing act, aggressively promoting our digital imaging portfolio, while preserving our traditional film and analog camera business,” Pacia said.

In previous years, Pacia said that traditional photo printing business slowed down because people would rather store their digital images in their computers. But now, she said, people are starting to appreciate the many creative ways they can employ to enhance and print their digital photos with the exciting and new interactive printing services from Kodak.

Anna Cabanos, Kodak Phils. Ltd. Country Business Manager for Digital Capture and Devices, said, “Kodak has brought back its Philippine office to ensure that the Filipinos are always kept abreast of the latest exciting offerings from Kodak.”

A new law that hopes to encourage Filipinos to invest more of their savings in high yield products has been signed recently. The PERA Law or Personal Equity and Retirement Account will be implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) next year.

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr., one of the signatories of the implementing rules and regulation of the Republic Act 9505 also known as the PERA Act of 2008, said that the law took almost 10 years to conceptualize and is glad that it finally could be implemented, hopefully by next year.

He said that PERA Act would benefit especially those who are not covered by the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), as well as Filipinos working abroad, as it would create savings investment vehicle of at least five years. It would also help develop the domestic capital market by giving incentives to long-term investments and creating more institutional investors.

Those who want to invest, who’ll be called contributors, can establish an account with a maximum annual contribution of P100,000. Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could inject P200,000 per year. These investments would be entitled to a tax credit of five percent.

The funds would be managed by administrators, regulated by various government agencies, who would be investing in products such as investment trust fund, annuity contract, insurance pension product, shares of stocks of mutual fund, and other investment product.

Espenilla expects the new law to encourage the contributors to invest their extra savings into the fund

Globe Telecommunications, Inc., together with sister company Ayala Corp., is all set to put up the Philippine’s first mobile microfinance banking unit. That is because the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas approved the Globe and Ayala’s entry into the banking industry.

The new bank, will be called “BPI Globe Banko, A Savings Bank” will be using Pilipinas Savings Bank. BPI senior vice president Teresita Tan was named president of the new bank. She said it will be launched this month.

Globe will have a 40 percent stake on the new bank, together with BPI who will also get 40 percent. The Ayala Corp. will be having a 20 percent stake on the bank.

The new bank will be nicknamed “Banko” according to Tan, this means “my bank.” She said they would soon open their first branch in Greenhills.

She said, “We’re required by the BSP to have at least one satellite branch per region but this will really be a mobile bank.”

Banko will be offering microfinancing P3,000 to P150,000. It will also offer SMEs (small and medium enterprises) loans worth P150,00 to P500,000, and wholesale funding to microfinance-oriented non-government organizations (NGOs) worth between P500,000 and P80 million.

Personally, as I am wanting to get back to my business soon, this additional channel is a good news to me. I just hope that they open a satellite branch near my place soon.

Employment opportunities in Iloilo City open up as Transcom sets up a facility there. Touted to be Europe’s largest business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, Transcom will be opening a call center in Iloilo this year. The company is planning to hire 1,000 to 2,000 employees for the said facility.

According to City Mayor Jerry Treñas, the company will start hiring around 1,600 on October and it will double its work force after it starts operations. Transcom investment would give a big boost to the city’s employment as it provides work for residents of Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas.

Transcom at present is in 29 countries with a total of 75 centers and has expertise in various industries including telecommunications, financial industry, travel and leisure, utilities and retail/consumer goods. It has a total workforce of around 20,000 employees who serve over 120 countries clients in more than 30 languages.