VIA GRAPHIC PLUS — In 1975, nutritionist-dietitian Corazon Dayro Ong began preparing her own recipes for skinless longganisa and tocino, initially sharing them with family and neighbors.
Together with her husband, Jose Ong, she turned that modest home-based venture into what would eventually become one of the Philippines’ leading homegrown food companies.
More than five decades later, the story that began around food and family has grown beyond the dining table. As CDO expanded its reach across the country, so too did its efforts to support the communities around it, from addressing child malnutrition and creating livelihoods to scholarships, environmental programs and disaster response.
Growing with Filipino families
What started with tocino and skinless longganisa has grown into a much wider food portfolio over the decades. CDO introduced products that have become familiar fixtures at Filipino tables, including CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino and Idol Hotdog, as well as brands such as San Marino and Highlands, which consumers may not immediately associate with CDO.
“From the products we started with in 1975, we have continued to listen to consumers and find new ways to respond to how Filipino families eat and live. That has meant developing new products, improving familiar favorites, and expanding into food categories that we would never have imagined when CDO first started,” said Patricia Marcelo-Magbanua, CDO’s Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications.
While the choices available to Filipino consumers have changed considerably over the decades, CDO continues to develop products around something that has remained constant: the importance of food in bringing families together.
Growing with the communities around it
That sense of family has also shaped how the company approaches its role beyond business.
Through the CDO Odyssey Foundation, Inc. (OFI), its corporate social responsibility arm, CDO works with communities through four key advocacies: Kalusugan for health and wellness, Kabuhayan for livelihood, Karunungan for education, and Kalikasan for the environment. These are complemented by Gabay Kaagapay, the foundation’s humanitarian assistance program for communities affected by disasters and emergencies.
Under its Kalusugan advocacy, OFI helps address child malnutrition through community-based programs that provide children with the DOST-developed Enhanced Nutribun, known as VitaBun under CDO’s feeding program, together with health monitoring and learning sessions for parents. These efforts are complemented by KuSciNanay community kitchens, implemented with support from the City Nutrition Council of Valenzuela and DOST, where mothers prepare meals for program beneficiaries while learning practical ways to provide nutritious meals for their families at home.
The foundation’s work in livelihood also reflects an idea deeply rooted in CDO’s own beginnings: the opportunity that entrepreneurship can create for a family. Through CDO Kasosyo sa Negosyo, beneficiaries receive livelihood packages that include food carts, equipment, kitchen tools, and CDO products, along with training in financial literacy, food safety, and hygiene to help them manage and sustain their small businesses.
Its environmental work has expanded further into the Sierra Madre, where OFI has committed to reforesting and caring for five hectares in partnership with the University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Forestry and Natural Resources.
“ Through OFI, we work with local communities, government agencies and partner organizations to understand what is needed and find ways where we can make a meaningful and lasting contribution,” said Magbanua, who also serves as Executive Director of CDO Odyssey Foundation, Inc.
More than 50 years after the first batches of tocino and skinless longganisa were prepared in a Valenzuela kitchen, CDO’s story remains closely tied to the Filipino family. As CDO looks toward its next chapter, that means not only reaching more Filipino tables, but also finding more ways for its growth to make a difference beyond them.
