Calata: Introducing New Technology to Old School Business

Earlier this year, the Calata Corporation was titled as the best performing IPO (Initial Public Offering) in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). It is also currently known as the biggest distributor of agricultural products. It’s known as a strong company also because of its partnerships with leading manufacturers such as B-Meg, Syngenta and Monsato as well as multinationals such as Bayer, Jardine, Dupont and Sonochem.

But of course, like any other enterprise, Calata Corporation had to go through different phases before it reached its current success. It was originally a poultry feeds store named J.Melvin, after brothers Joseph and Melvin Calata, and was owned by Eusebio Calata. In 2001, Joseph Calata graduated and took over the company. He strived to make his old school company into a professional and big enterprise, which is why he introduced a new and computerized way for their sales and accounting that helped their production be transparent and led to the success of the company.

At present, Calata aims to introduce new technology to other agricultural businesses that remain to be traditional. He is currently focused on Luzon-based rice and corn farmers to answer the problem on incompatible farm inputs, including fertilizers. He plans to place soil testing facilities in all his stores.

The soil testing facility will prevent farmers from buying and applying fertilizers that do not fit their farms and which end up reducing productivity and harming the environment.
- Calata said in an interview.

The Philippines can be labeled as an agriculture-dependent country, as one-third of its land is agricultural, and more than half of the total of poor Filipinos depend only on agriculture to survive. With the recent findings that the use of wrong farm inputs, such as fertilizers, have resulted to bigger expenses and reduce harvest for farmers. This may also cause irreparable damage to the soil. These effects are what brought Calata to the decision to provide a new service for the farmers.

Calata will be helping farmers save money as they would be wiser in usage of farm inputs that are compatible with their respective farms. He will also offer this service for free which is a good news for farmers.

This act shows that Calata is trying to be a leader in the field of agriculture but at the same time, he aims to help other enterprises, whether they are big or small.