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| Mr. Giovanni T. Dignos accepting his Certificates of Completion and Ownership handed by Engr. Ramil T. Uy, Sr. SRS-DOST 8 and Mr. Romeo L. Dignos, PSTD-Biliran |
Anyone who works hard to deliver desired outputs with willpower reaps the recognition he deserves. Just like Mr. Giovani T. Dignos, owner of RG Herbal Oil Repacking and Marketing, whom DOST-8 recognized and awarded with the Certificates of Completion and Ownership in recognition of his dedication and commitment in efficiently paying and completing his financial obligation to DOST SETUP. The awarding ceremony was done last December 1, 2016 at NSU Hostel, Naval, Biliran during the conduct of the 2016 SETUP Forum.
RG Herbal Oil Repacking and Marketing is the producer of RG Herbal Oil, a popular liniment made from mineral oil, and extract from various medicinal plants. Before the DOST intervention, the enterprise produces herbal oil using ordinary equipment through a simple production process. On his short testimony during the SETUP Forum, the owner described how he converted and used big recycled cans as cooking tool in producing herbal oil. The cans corrode fast and he had to replace them every month. He tried using large aluminum kettles, but the largest he could have made him produce the required volume for the whole month. He also used firewood for oil extraction and product cooking. He comically shared his experience on how his neighbors had thought that their house was on fire whenever he was cooking due to the heavy smoke that the wooden firewood created.
Faced with those predicaments, he sought the help of DOST8 through PSTC-Biliran who introduced to him possible technology infusion for his herbal oil production to help him improve his process to achieve better product stability and storability. Encouraged by the idea, Mr. Dignos applied for DOST SETUP assistance. In the year 2012, SETUP granted One Hundred Seventy Five Thousand Pesos (P175,000.00) financial support for the acquisition of stainless steel made pasteurizing tank, which is water-jacketed and uses LPG as fuel. With the new equipment, the volume that he produced for one month using the kettle could now be produced for just 3 days. This provided him opportunity to increase production and have more time with marketing for the rest of the month. Another good thing was that the smoke was gone, and the neighbors are now amazed of how “high-tech” his production center has become. Moreover, since RG Herbal Oil product then used plastic packaging with ordinary printed label, DOST provided assistance in the development and execution of the label design and packaging improvement. This in turn resulted to enhancement of his product marketability. Since the time of intervention, an increase of 76% in his production and sales has been observed.
With this current success, RG Herbal Oil is determined to further improve the business and create new product variation. In due time, he planned to display his products in leading convenient stores such as Robinsons and others to compete alongside other commercially and known therapeutic products.
Undeniably, failure has no place for someone whose determination to succeed is strong enough!