By Raphaela Ann Manalo, UPLB Intern

Despite the pandemic, GlowCorp expands its reach to various locations in the Philippines. Through Prince Warehouse, a regional player based in Cebu City, GlowCorp’s products namely organic rice and sugar are now available in the provinces of Bulacan and Palawan in Luzon, Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Biliran, Siquijor and Negros Occidental in the Visayas and Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte in Mindanao.

Prince Warehouse is a Cebu-based retail store chain in the Philippines started in April 1990 by Robert L. Go, the President of the Philippine Retailers Association. Originally a plain warehouse, they turned it into a single cash register store selling glassware, kitchenware, plastic ware, and other household items. Prince later initiated programs such as the Prince Warehouse Club’s Sari-Sari Store Society (SSS) to help sari-sari store owners grow their business by buying goods at Prince Hypermart with discounts and perks. Their operations in Cebu soon expanded to nearby towns and provinces within the Visayas Region. In 2013, Prince expanded their operations in Mindanao with its first branch in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental and soon expanded in Zamboanga del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Misamis Occidental. The company continued to expand in more provinces, even reaching Luzon. In addition to the expansion, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte branch was opened on October 7, 2018. They also introduced ECPay, an electronic payment to their branches nationwide.

With the additional 49 outlets of Prince Warehouse, GlowCorp’s Prime Organic Rice, Muscovado and Cocosugar will now be available to more consumers nationwide, especially in areas where SM, Robinsons, and Puregold are not present. This also increased the number of GlowCorp outlets to more than 950 nationwide.

According to Jinalyn Pagalan, GlowCorp’s Sales Representative for Visayas and Mindanao, Prince Warehouse decided to expand the number of outlets for GlowCorp’s organic products because of their quality and being organic. These products are expected to provide its consumers more choices and will eventually increase foot traffic in its stores located in strategic locations nationwide.

GlowCorp increased its number of outlets from 881 stores in 2021 to more than 950 outlets as of date. The continuing presence of GlowCorp in these outlets nationwide and in the digital markets has provided the 6,500 farming households access to better markets while more than Php400M worth of organic and processed products have been purchased from these farmers since 2010.