By Marinel Peroy
When you listen to the story behind Mekeni Food Corporation president Pruds Garcia, it does not feel like a typical business narrative. It reads more like a story about people — about families who had to leave, quiet sacrifices, and a longing that never truly fades.
True to his name, Garcia embodies the values of P.R.U.D.S.: purpose, resiliency, uplifting others, discipline, and stewardship.
For many Filipinos, working abroad has never been just about ambition. It has always been about responsibility. Parents leave so their children can stay in school. Families are sustained from a distance. Their decision is anchored on two things: survival and hope — survival in enduring homesickness to provide, and hope in the promise of one day embracing loved ones again.
In an exclusive interview with THEPHILBIZNEWS, Garcia shared that Mekeni continues to create opportunities not only for employees, but also for vendors who support their own families through the business.
This reality has shaped not just livelihoods, but generations of consumers.
This writer remembers being an ordinary student, enjoying Mekeni tocino before school. Years later, meeting one of the pioneers of the Philippine food industry feels like a reminder that life often comes full circle, and that sometimes, the unexpected tells the best stories.
Garcia recalls how their journey began from the ground up after the 1991 Pinatubo eruption. He returned to the Philippines after a call from his father to help run the family business. It was not an easy choice, but driven by love for family and a sense of stewardship, he took the risk.
Over time, Mekeni found a deeper purpose. What they built was not just a food brand, but something that reconnects people to where they came from.
“We want to bring back the memories back home, because we realize people who are working abroad do not [always] have the chance to go home.”
That intention became real in a chance encounter. Garcia once met a Filipino in the United States buying Mekeni’s fish balls and kikiam.
It was a simple moment, but meaningful. The man shared how the products had been part of his early struggles in the Philippines: “I want to tell the story to my family, and now they are also benefiting [from the fruits of the struggles], and they have a good life in the United States.”
Stories like this reinforced a deeper truth. Garcia even handed his business card to the man and encouraged him to learn more about the company’s journey, emphasizing that, “when they see the product from the Philippines to create memories, this is not by accident.”
Through something as simple as food, fragments of home are restored. A meal becomes a memory. A familiar taste brings back stories long untold. Even from across the world, people remain connected.
This perspective also shapes Garcia’s leadership. For him, resilience is learned and lived.
He shared another deeply personal story: After 23 years, they were blessed with a daughter, Faith.
She became a reminder to never give up, to keep believing even when the odds seem impossible. That same belief continues to guide how decisions are made and how the company moves forward.
Even in uncertain times, the focus is not just survival, but purpose: building a community that grows with impact. More than four decades of commitment to food safety and quality have positioned Mekeni as a pillar of the Philippine food manufacturing industry, bringing staple products across the country and to Filipinos worldwide.
Looking ahead, the company is eyeing expansion into Taiwan and Hong Kong to serve overseas Filipino workers.
In the end, Mekeni’s story reminds us that home is not always a place we can return to.
Sometimes, it is something we carry, with every shared meal, every memory, and every intention shaped by care.
And in its #TimplangAtin, that sense of home endures — even from miles away.