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AU-based Pinoy starts up food delivery service amid pandemic
Taking risks has been second nature to a 38-year-old Filipino employee of an oil refinery company in Melbourne, Australia.
So when Joseph Ronald Calara moved there three years ago from his former host country -- the United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- to settle down with his wife, he still had thought of a food delivery service to be based in the Philippines.
"Nung nagkaroon ng pandemic, naisip namin na ang itayo is an on-demand delivery para makatulong na rin sa maraming Pilipino. Malaki ang pagkakaiba nito sa dati naming negosyo pero hindi naman kami natakot sumugal," shared the former owner of The Filipino Kitchen Restaurant, the Rice Overdose, and the Spoon & Bowl Restaurant.
(When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, we thought of building an on-demand delivery that could help many other Filipinos. This is very different from our previous businesses but we were not afraid to gamble.)
"Sabi pa nga ni Mark Zuckerberg, 'The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks'," Calara added in the email interview on April 1.
Fortunately, a former college classmate believed in the software application Calara has envisioned.
“Bale ako ang founder and co-founder ko yung classmate ko nung college. Kasama rin namin mga misis namin. Bale ako ang CEO, si Len na wife ko ang CPO, si Ian na classmate ko sa Mapua ang COO, at yung wife niya na si Glynis ang CMO. Si Ian and Glynis ang nasa Pinas at may hawak sa operation.”
(I am the founder and my classmate in college is the co-founder. We are also with our wives. I am the CEO, my wife Len is the CPO, Ian who is my classmate in Mapua is the COO, and his wife Glynis is the CMO. Ian and Glynis are the ones in the Philippines and in charge of the operation.)
Seven other OFWs from the United States of America (USA), UAE, and Australia, invested in the computer program, too.
“The app is an on-demand food delivery app. We’ve partnered with more than 300 restaurants and movers in the south. We deliver freshly made foods from your favorite milk tea shops, Japanese restaurants, Korean restaurants, Filipino restaurants, and many more. We operate in Muntinlupa, San Pedro, Binan, Cabuyao, Sta. Rosa, Calamba, GMA, Carmona, Dasmarinas, and Bacoor.” —LBG, GMA News
