THE community quarantine implemented in the province of Cebu has paved the way for new ways of doing business with some vendors taking advantage of the online platform to continue serving the market.
Agri-entrepreneur Richard Tumulak launched an online market—cebumarket.store—on Sunday, March 22, 2020, to offer consumers a variety of agricultural products directly sourced from farmers. He set up the online business to connect farmers directly to the consumers.
The online marketplace wants to “immortalize the presence of Carbon Market via online to expand the reach of every farmer directly to the end consumer. In this way, we both help our poor farmers and ordinary citizens.”
“Here you can shop the lowest price of agricultural products. My partner and I buy them ourselves in the market so the customer is assured of fresh and clean vegetables, fruits and other items,” Tumulak said.
He noticed that physical distancing is not properly observed in the Carbon market so putting these products online would at least discourage people from going out.
Since its launching, the website has been receiving a surge of orders. Its website records more than 5,000 site visits.
“We are even cancelling some orders from far-flung areas because we are working hard to keep up with the demand,” he said.
As of now, Tumulak said they deliver to the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Lapu-Lapu with a delivery fee of P50 and a minimum order of P200 worth of goods. The online business accepts payments upon delivery of goods and also through online payment channels like Paypal and GCash.
Cebumarket.store sells basic goods, seasoning, meat, fruits, vegetables, baking goods, homemade/delicacies and even Covid-19 needs.
Tumulak grew up in a family of farmers. This inspired him to venture in this type of business.
“My grandfather and grandmother used to take me to the farm when I was a kid. They worked from dawn to noon. Life in the farm was not easy as the middlemen take our profits,” he said.
Tumulak’s mother is also a farmer.
“When I was a kid, I was her assistant vendor until we found our way to the Carbon market and sell wholesale agricultural products,” he said.