In the Philippines these days, there’s no longer a need to go abroad just to buy your favorite imported goods. Almost every big-name international brand has a presence in Manila, which makes it easy to procure your favorite beauty products, clothing, and even groceries.

International brand-name goods tend to dominate the grocery aisles and shopping malls these days, easily overshadowing our own brands; but it’s the Filipino merchants and entrepreneurs who have truly carved a space for themselves in the market over the last few years. Filipinos are naturally innovative and entrepreneurial, and several different hundred world-class local businesses have popped up over the last few years as an answer to a problem that international brands can’t solve. Karton.ph works with a curated group of Filipino merchants who display all the best of local ingenuity in each of their products.

We support the Filipino merchant, and think that you should too. Here’s why you should be supporting your local merchants:

 

• Buying local means that you support yourself too: When you spend your money on a locally-owned business instead of a multinational brand, your money goes to purchasing other service providers, farms, and businesses – which strengthens the country’s economic base.

• Reduce your carbon footprint: Buying from a local business requires a significantly smaller carbon footprint to get a product from the maker to your doorstep. Whether it’s a product that someone made from their own home, a farm, or a local warehouse, it requires less transportation to get to you thereby reducing any impact on the environment in terms of transportation, fuel, pollution, and congestion.

• Job creation: Local businesses are a source of income to many communities especially those in need. By supporting Filipino products, your money directly goes to them and puts food on a family’s table, instead of to the pockets of multinational companies.

• Local food is healthier: Food that comes from local manufacturers and farms, especially those made in small batches, use little to no preservatives and chemicals compared to those produced by commercial farms, who tend to use more insecticides and hormones.

 

• More options: As a consumer, you’ll have access to wider options when you shop from locally owned businesses, who are more in tune with what the community needs and wants at a fair price. International companies develop products based on sales targets and profits more importantly, without keeping the diversity of the community in mind. This is why more Filipino businesses are creating unique, thoughtful products to cater to a smaller niche but with a bigger impact.

 

These are things that we hope you think about the next time you’re making a decision about where to spend your money. Going local is always the better choice.