Nutritious and delicious need not pertain to two different products. As shown by the First Harvest, using choice and locally- and organically-grown ingredients can produce not only delectable but also healthy food products. Currently, First Harvest offers the following products: the smooth Peanut Spread, the quirky Peanut Crunch, and the Salted Coco Caramel with sesame seeds, all of which are crowd-favorite.
First Harvest is one of the incubated social enterprises in GK Enchanted Farm that aims to contribute to ending systemic poverty. The social enterprise fulfills this vision by creating employment, supporting local production, and investing in human capacity development. Partnering with GK Enchanted Farm, it also creates a replicable template for community-based manufactured food products.
Back in November 2013, Tajen Sui, a First Harvest co-founder, produced a jar of peanut butter, which turned out to be surprisingly delicious as the peanut butter was consumed right away, an evidence that the home-cooked peanut butter had market potential. Catherine Patacsil and Nico Encarnacio joined Tajenin establishing First Harvest, where they shared their skills in crafting brand design and running a social business. The three have since been working together in maximizing the business potential of meeting the demand for natural products in the Philippines.
In support with its desire to create employment and boost demand for local products, First Harvest sources its ingredients from the nearby communities. A major source of its raw materials is the Center for Bayanihan Economics Farm located in GK Enchanted Farm, Angat, Bulacan which serves as a laboratory for sustainable agriculture. For its sweetener, First Harvest uses honey as a sweetener, and it is sourced from local bee farmers in the rural market.
The social enterprise also invests in capacitating human assets through education and training that it provides to its staff. For instance, it reinvests some of the profits in community development by providing college scholarship program, thereby empowering the local youth to become the business leaders in the future.