Dreaming is one thing, but achieving your dreams and finding your purpose is something far greater, as what Farmer George Salinas has shown us. The living, breathing epitome of the quote: “A true successful person is someone who also wants others to be successful”. 

With a dream of having a farm of his own, he invested in one, after 27 years in the corporate world. This led him to discover more about his passion and its reality. His farm thrived more in coffee, varieties of fruits and vegetables followed after investing in more farmland years after. 

His first harvest and trade encounter gave him the idea of creating his own brand which we now know as “Nayong Kalikasan”, with some help from DTI’s Kapatid Mentor ME Program during the pandemic, they were able to have their very own packaging and sell to other convenience stores like Shell Select, and premium pasalubong centers such as Sonia’s Garden. 

His innovation didn’t stop with just coffee, and, having noticed the over-supply of his kalamansi, Farmer George had some help from a friend and created one of his best sellers, the Kalamansi Wine.

From starting with no knowledge about farming at first to that point in time, they realized the gospel truth: “We don’t have to be an expert in everything.” Concentrating on barako coffee, he found himself collaborating with other business owners and chefs that led to creating more awesome products like his Barako Cookies, Barako Kaong, Barako Ice Cream, and their Barako Buko Pies proving that “Ang kape, hindi mo lang iniinom, kinakain mo pa.” 

However, coffee isn’t just for food and drinks, it’s also for art too. With his collaboration with Renz Tuzon and the Coffee Artists of the Philippines alongside their advocacy to help the coffee community, they made their way of helping each other out through their art, their coffee art. 

Other than being the advisor of The Coffee Heritage Project and helping in putting up The Coffee Growers Cooperative, Farmer George questioned why was he making things hard for him, only to realize from the Lord that there was a reason why he was in that position, and that is because of his connections, which complemented his passion and innate good work ethics. 

Observing the scarcity of coffee in the country, he found himself sharing his knowledge while helping others thrive in the industry by having their very own coffee brand, he now has partner farms planting his barako seedlings in Luzon and Visayas. 

His brand Nayong Kalikasan truly lives out its meaning, inspired by the famed “Nayong Pilipino”. 

He fervently declares: “We are a village, we are a community.” 

Check out Nayong Kalikasan now!

Patty Lising is a true representation of the adage, “Train them while they’re young”. Stemming from her childhood experiences in their family enterprise of selling cloth, Patty was able to use her training and lessons learned for her new entrepreneurial ventures.