Josie Alcantara, a 2006 graduate from the Philippines, held a training seminar on chocolate molding production and packaging to Globe McKay-Sheraton Village homeowners on June 13, 2007. Chocolate molding production is a microenterprise livelihood program of the low-income homeowners in this community. SIFAT Philippines, the Living for Jesus Ministries and the support of homeowners’ association president Willie Ibarreta made this training possible.

The goal of the training is to help women cope with the increasingly numerous responsibilities they face in everyday socioeconomic life. This microenterprise helps develop supplemental income, so the women are able to buy more nutritional food for their families and help provide for their children’s educational needs.

The project engaged the women in income generating activities. Since the homeowners are already an organized group, the SIFAT alumni are now assisting them to become self-governing and become independent from the project.

Ten housewives and 10 high school and college students attended the training and learned about basic and advanced chocolate molding, which are ideal for business all year for occasions such as birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Easter Sunday, Halloween, Christmas or as desserts. Marketing strategies are simply giving samples for tasting and showing pictures of the finished products neatly and attractively packaged with a price list on it. Josie emphasized the “three P’s”:  people, place and price in making the product cost. The ordered products should be delivered on time and following the specifications of the customers.

Josie Alcantara holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration and is certificated in hotel and restaurant management. She is a resource speaker giving lectures and hands-on training for culinary and food technology.