CLOY-Inspired Online Store Brings Cordillera Products to Manila

(SPOT.ph) As much as we want to get our fill of ube jam and strawberries, wake up to chilly weather, and have a look at a sea of clouds, driving to the Cordilleras amid the pandemic is close to impossible these days. It's a good thing that an online store is bringing a piece of the highlands to us by selling vegetables from Benguet, jams and brooms from Baguio City, coffee beans from Sagada, and honey from Abra. Cordillera Landing On You is an effort to help out farmers from the Cordilleras, who are now struggling to sell their fresh produce and pasalubong items because of strict quarantine measures.

"I was thinking of a catchy name and then because I'm part of the K-Drama fandom—Captain Ri, that's what I call myself, na-conceptualize 'yong 'Cordillera Landing On You'. Literally, we're from Cordillera—I'm from Ifugao. And we're bringing products from the Cordillera to land in the city—in Metro Manila," says Teddy Baguilat Jr. of Cordillera Landing On You (CLOY) in an online interview with Summit Media.

Most trading posts between the provinces and Metro Manila are closed, and agile traders like CLOY can manage to go the farmers themselves and facilitate distribution of produce to the cities. The group also practices fair trade. "When we buy these products, hindi namin binabarat 'yong magsasaka. We negotiate a fair price with them. Most of our prices are below supermarket prices," Baguilat adds. This is also an opportunity for Filipino consumers to rediscover and support local products.

Also read: 10 Online Stores That Help Local Farmers

Some of CLOY's best-sellers are (prices subject to change):

• Strawberry (P400 to P500)
• Lemons (P150 to P180
• Rainbow walis (P250)
• Baguio beans (P110)
• Lettuce (P130 to P140)
• Sagada coffee (P460/kilo)
• Ifugao arabica/robusta coffee (P230/200 grams)
• Benguet blend coffee (P310/kilo)
• Kalinga robusta coffee (P310/kilo)
• Good Shepherd Strawberry jam (P290/8 oz)
• Good Shepherd Strawberry jelly (P230/12 oz)
• Good Shepherd Ube jam (P330/12 oz)
• Alabanza longganisa (P150 for 1/4 kilos)
• Peace Honey (P300/350 ml)

The group also resells handwoven masks from Ifugao such as the four-play Kandama mask for P400 and a simple mask by Ifugao Nation for P180.

To find out more about Cordillera Landing on You, watch this video:

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