Going organic in the city

SOMETIMES, a failed business teaches us to look elsewhere. Michael Melendres had to fail twice before finally zeroing in on his successful organic vegetable business.

Having a B.S. Agriculture diploma under his belt from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB), Michael was the typical idealist who (according to him now) was too stubborn to listen to his father’s advice to get a job. Instead of applying for what his father considered a stable job, he instead went into mushrooms driven by the money it promised. Alas, he failed. Proud to show his father that he still made the right decision, he then took a loan and got a contract to supply vegetables to a well-known fast food chain. He went deep in debt but also had to give up that contract. Lesson number two.