Now on its fifth year, Globe Business’ Gift Local campaign is back to give micro, small, and medium local social enterprises (MSMEs) their well-deserved spotlight. Since it’s almost Christmas, I’m sure a lot of us are already thinking of nice gifts for our loved ones; however, let’s not forget to give back to our homeland by also supporting the livelihood of farmers, local designers, indigenous communities, and those who follow sustainable practices behind every product they put on the shelf. They also deserve the holiday love, too!

From artisanal chocolates to virgin coconut oils, skincare essentials to handwoven blankets and towels, here’s a short list of local brands that offer nice and useful gift items to consider. I’ve personally tried 3 out of 6, but I’ve heard good reviews about the rest:

1. Malagos Chocolate

One of the most-awarded Filipino tree-to-bar chocolate brands, Malagos Chocolate has a wide collection of premium chocolate made from sustainably-farmed cocoa. Through its Malagos Cacao Development Center, they empower cacao farmers by connecting them to opportunities to help them thrive such as including them in production and marketing agreements, teaching them farm and nursery operations and cacao bean trading.

2. HTP Basics

Launched in 2020 as an offshoot of the thriving local fashion brand HTP Clothing, HTP Basics offers a wide range of classic fashion essentials for everyone’s wardrobe. While it carries the same passion for fashion, it is driven by a different purpose—to help its distributors and resellers start their own business by selling high-quality and affordable basic pieces that everyone loves.

3. Looca Skincare

Looca Skincare boasts a range of products made from gentle, alcohol- and paraben-free ingredients that make for a clean and fun skincare routine. From its labels down to the packaging, everything about the brand is locally made, which means every purchase made helps sustain an ecosystem of small Filipino businesses behind the product. The company is also open for resellers, helping them jumpstart their own business with Looca and its sister brand, HTP Basics’ stable community of customers.

4. Greenlife Coconut Products Philippines Inc.

Founded by COCOFED scholar Francisco Rubio and his wife, Emelita, Greenlife started as a manufacturing enterprise in 2009. After creating many innovations to the coconut and growing its line of products, it has become a full-blown advocacy to create jobs and sustain the hardworking coconut farmers in the country. Greenlife showcases a wide variety of premium coconut products for cooking and baking.

5. Locano

Locano offers a beautiful collection of handmade blankets, towels and table runners that showcase the craftsmanship of Filipino artisans. Since its establishment in 2015, Locano continues to work directly with the finest weavers from Vigan and Santa, Ilocos Sur, and Bangar, La Union.

6. Roots Collective Ph

What began as a co-working space and boutique café along Katipunan in 2016 is now a pioneering community and marketplace of social entrepreneurs that bridges social enterprises and creative startups with consumers and advocates. Its enterprise development programs conduct social enterprise funding, rural community training, and inter-enterprise collaborations. Their shop is a treasure trove of local, social, and sustainable products that are fit for gift-giving this festive season.

Among the participating brands from Roots Collective Ph are BalaiKamay, Hineleban Farms, The Bamboo Company, Chocoloco, Creative Definitions, Gouache, HABI Lifestyle, Happy Helpers, Hiraya Chocolates, Jacinto & Lirio, Magwai, Obrano, The Peanut Butter Junkie, Plantsville Health, Reef Picks, The Spark Project/Spark Books, Theo & Philo Chocolates, and Wholly Grain.

Shoppers may visit the Globe Business Gift Local Page  https://glbe.co/giftlocal to check out these products and the communities each of the partner merchants support.

A live selling event is also set on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. via Globe Business Facebook page to provide Gift Local partner merchants a platform to promote their company and products for the holidays.

A merrier season for local MSMEs with Globe Business

Apart from encouraging the public to patronize the products of local MSMEs for holiday gifting, Globe Business continues to support local entrepreneurs with regular activities through Globe Business Academy.

Joining Globe Business Academy once gives them twice the benefit, with access to business insights as well as networking opportunities for their business. They will find value in relevant and practical information to ramp up their businesses. They will also get the chance to expand their network by meeting and interacting with fellow MSMEs in different events hosted by Globe Business. To sign up for free, visit https://mybusinessacademy.ph/sign-up/ .

In addition to this, Globe Business is offering local entrepreneurs more opportunities to scale up their business. MSME owners who want to switch to Globe Business and keep the number they love, can kickstart their business upgrade by getting free Samsung phones for bulk orders. Business owners can also sign up for Globe Business UNLI Fiber Biz Plan 2499 to enjoy equal download and upload speeds, unlimited landline calls to all landline and mobile networks for an additional P59 only, and double customer engagement in a click using M360 solutions.

Globe supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), specifically UN SDG No. 8 which calls for Decent Work and Economic Growth; and No. 9 which emphasizes the roles of infrastructure and innovation as crucial drivers of economic growth and development. Globe is committed to upholding the 10 United Nations Global Compact principles and 10 UN SDGs.

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