Only few enterprises can claim kinship with Davao City’s food history and tourism. Outside Luz Kinilaw, Penong’s, Cecille’s, Kuilan, and a few others, Lola Abon’s Durian Candies is nearly undisputed when it comes to satisfying every tourist’s sweet tooth. Established in 1956, the candy factory started as a micro home-based initiative of Abundia del Puerto vda. de Raakin—Lola Abon to her family—who was originally from Cagayan de Oro City.
Lola Abon started selling her own pastillas de leche, a confection made from sugar that is slowly stirred in low fire until it turns velvety and smooth. As a widow with six kids to feed, her neatly wrapped sweets were peddled among friends and in offices, providing her steady sustenance for the family. Later, she occasionally tagged along her first-born grandchild Roberto in her sorties.
Her business took a dramatic turn after a close friend advised to add durian flavor to her sweets. Durian, then and now, represents Davao, is regarded as the king of fruits, and is profusely grown throughout the region. She took to heart the suggestion and found the new concoction, which he called ‘durian yema,’ most improved and flavorful to the senses. Initially, as a marketing come-on, she wrapped the product in a thin, white-hued washi or Japanese paper.
With daughter Melor Saniel as a sidekick, the undertaking was registered with the then Bureau of Commerce and Industry (BCI) and National Cottage Industries and Development Authority (NACIDA) as Lola Abon’s Durian Candies in the founder’s honor. With much better packaging, it did not take long for the durian candies to become a party item and a preferred confection sold in stores, public markets, and bus terminals.
When Lola Abon died in November 1967, Melor took over the business and expanded the market share of the business within and outside the city. With the achievement, she introduced new products that took the form of cubes, bars, and sticks. She steered the family undertaking for over two decades. But her health issues overtook success, and the financial hardship the enterprise was facing forced her to entertain the idea of selling out the business. But her children opposed it.
Roberto, Melor’s eldest son who was working in a private firm, decided instead to pump in P25,000 and asked Dolores, his younger sister, to manage. With proper direction, the undertaking, in only a year’s time, pulled off from the debt trap and regain its status in the candy industry. In 2002, the business was turned into a corporation with Melor, hubby Mamerto Sr. and grown-up children Roberto, Eduardo, Mamerto Jr., Rodolfo, Dolores, and Ana Liza as incorporators. Roberto eventually took over as president.
As a family-owned corporation and acutely managed undertaking, Lola Abon’s has become a recipient of numerous citations and recognitions and has earned the moniker of the undisputed durian candy produced in the entire archipelago. Its cache of awards includes the 1999 Gawad Negosyanteng Pinoy from GMA7 TV, 2005 Most Outstanding Small and Medium Enterprise from the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCCI), and 2005 Most Outstanding SME Graduate from the Department of Trade and Industry.
Despite the impressive efficiency the company has achieved, its main distribution center remains modest. Germelina A. Lacorte, in June 19, 2011, article (‘50-year-old lola’s legacy that turned down SM‘) that appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, wrote about it.
‘Lola Abon’s store sits in a quiet neighborhood tucked away from the madness of malls and commercial centers. Except for a small hardly noticeable sign along the highway and the waft of sweet durian smell in the air, nothing could probably lead a stray newcomer here. And yet, people always found their way to the Lola Abon store.’
