Calata Corporation, ‘Lechon Party’ and new PH Guinness World Record

Calata Corporation president and CEO Joseph Calata (3^RD from left) receives the certificate of Guinness World  Record on the largest serving of roast pork. With him are, from left: Lydia’s Lechon CEO Ricky de Roca, Guinness officer Lucia Sinigagliesi, Calata corporate secretary Atty. Jose Marie Fabella, Calata VP for Corporate Communications, Sales and Marketing Michael Angelo Lobrin and Brookfields Meat Inc. president Halmon Parker Ong.

WHAT a way to celebrate a milestone year --  clinching a World Guinness Record, treating the less privileged residents of Metro Manila and granting scholarship to students of agriculture!

Indeed, it was a new world record for the Philippines via Calata Corporation’s feat of the largest serving of roast pork (locally known as lechon) in the world. 

Calata Corporation is the largest retailer and distributor of top agrochemical brands, feeds, fertilizers, veterinary medicines and seeds throughout the country. It also owns and operates a chain of retail stores named AGRI, the largest retailer of the country’s choice brands, Heisenberg veterinary medicines, Thomson and Hine, as well as Ivansmith agro-chemicals.

Held at the Liwasang Aurora, Quezon City Memorial Circle on November 8, Calata sponsored 330 hogs which Lydia’s Lechon roasted and chopped. Minus the bones and the heads, the chopped lechon yielded  4,046 kilos and was served to all guests, bystanders and passersby.

Present was Guinness Records Adjudicator Sinigagliesi, who oversaw the weigh-in.

The organizer started serving the lechon at 6pm, after Sinigagliesi made the announcement of the new record.

Previously, the Guinness World Record on the largest serving of roast pork was held by Mexico where they served 3,094.2 kilos of cochinita pibil, a popular roast pork dish in its Yucatan region in 2010.

Thousands of people lined up as early as 1pm to get into the free event. Each person got three stubs, which means, they got up to three rounds of lechon. By 7:30pm, the line was still strong. No rice was served.

The event also served as celebratory feast and an early Christmas treat for the less privileged residents in this part of Metro Manila, as part of the company’s 16th anniversary.

And to make the Lechon Party truly memorable, celebrities from the Kapuso network have been invited and performed a song or two to the delight of partygoers who had a grand time of their life taking selfies with the stars which included Glaiza de Castro, Kristoffer Martin and Derick Monasterio.

 “This year, we celebrated our 16 successful years in the business by giving back to the community instead of having a lavish party. This is a very momentous occasion for the Philippines, to break the Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest serving of lechon’,” shared Joseph Calata, Chairman and CEO of Calata Corporation.

But more than setting a new record and the mouth-watering Filipino favorite, Calata said his company did this to raise awareness about agriculture to the young ones.

“The younger generation would rather work in call centers and offices…there is nothing wrong with those jobs, but what people don’t realize is kapag walang agriculture, walang buhay,” explains Michael Angelo Lobrin, Calata VP for Corporate Communications, Sales, and Marketing.

Lobrin also revealed that a percentage of their feed sales go to funding students studying agriculture. Soon the company is partnering with other NGO's, Foundations to give scholarship grants to deserving students to further improve the lives of Filipinos in the agricultural sector. The company’s dream is to make agriculture cool and dubbed it AgriCOOLture.

JOSEPH CALATA AND CALATA CORPORTION: A SUCCESS STORY

As Calata Corporation turns sweet 16, its chairman and CEO can’t help but look back at the humble beginnings of the company. Joseph took over his mom’s and pop’s provincial feeds business in Bulacan and systematized it through the help of modern technology – the computer. He graduated from Dela Salle University and has started a career for himself when his parents asked him to assist them in the family business instead.

And the rest as they say is history. In May 23, 2012 Calata Corporation was listed for Initial Public Offering at the Philippine Stock Commission. Needless to say, the simple lad from Bulacan made it and became the youngest billionaire in his early 30s. When most millennials outdo each other in climbing the ladder of corporate success through employment, Joseph realized the need for boosting agriculture in the country – the Philippines being an agricultural country. Harnessing its potential and opportunities, he now advocates and often talks to fellow Filipinos especially among the young that “There is money in agriculture!”

With the success of the lechon party, Calata Corporation also signals the venture into a new business of supplying hogs to leading roast pork or lechon makers in the country.

The company earlier said it has established business partnerships with leading industry players, such as Lydia’s Lechon, to fill the lechon chain’s requirements for pigs starting November.

Calata’s  hog-breeding facility in Santa Maria, Isabela,  can provide the requirements for lechon makers in Luzon, Calata corporate secretary Atty. Jose Marie Fabella said.

“For now, we can supply 300,000 hogs annually. We can also supply to other lechon chains aside from Lydia’s Lechon,” he said.

The company said it can also outsource the supply of pigs from other breeding stations and establish more growing farms should the Isabela facility be unable to meet the demands for pigs from the partner lechon makers.

For business ventures and other information, visit  www.calatacorp.com.

This writer sharing the Guinnes World Record certificate with personal friend
and one of the country's best CEOs, Joseph Calata

Indeed, the country’s aging farmers won't be there forever and there should be a younger generation who should love to spend their lives harnessing the fields with the help of new technology. Today, farming no longer entails hard labor, as Calata Corporation proves, because we now have the most modern and advanced gadgets and machineries to aid our farmers. Like Joseph Calata, we look forward to seeing self-supporting Filipinos who don’t import goods anymore but are able to locally produce their basic needs for food and eventually become successful, enterprising entrepreneurs themselves!