The Power of Resilience: Alvin Hing’s Success Story in Agri-business
In a year riddled with worry and setbacks, Alvin Hing comes through the door more self-assured than ever and ready to give back.
As a business owner who hails from the Queen City of the South, Alvin Hing always knew that he would start his own business in Cebu where he was born and raised. Even after his university years, he has made Cebu his home—by raising his own family with his loving wife in the same city.
Farming Success in the Agri-Business
Prior to his venture in the agri-business industry, Alvin had an illustrious career as an executive in different industries and companies. Being an entrepreneur, he understands that challenges as part of the learning process and embraces them as growth opportunities. In fact, he credits his growth as an entrepreneur through his experiences and learnings from his previous bosses and mentors—with whom he maintains great relationships up to this day.
In 2012, Alvin ventured into the agri-business and found his niche, gladly crediting the people that helped get him there. This first business was established with the help of his wife and was followed by his first foray into the swine industry with business partner Paul Holaysan.
Eager to grow and knowing that they needed to learn more, the first challenge was the unavailability of information to make sound decisions—during the set‐up of the nucleus farm. For that, they had to travel abroad to equip themselves with the right knowledge and skills.
Of Trials, Tribulations, and Taking Charge
As it turns out, 2018 was a great year. In March, Alvin broke ground on a new venture: EGGcelsior Poultry Farms, Inc., which was co-managed by his other business partner, Valiant Ngo.
Heading the team towards efficiency and its expansion program, Alvin and his team were able to achieve some milestones. That being said, with larger success also came larger challenges—never mind the additional challenges that also came with a changing world, which meant that their response to these matters was absolutely critical.
“The most recent challenge was in 2019—with the [African Swine Fever] ASF outbreak in the Philippines,” he shares, adding that the hurdles only grew bigger with the ongoing pandemic and rising cases of bird flu on the poultry front.
However, Alvin isn’t one to back down from a challenge. Instead, he saw everything as an opportunity to step up. He declares, “All these gave a rise to our learning curve. We gained knowledge on how to face obstacles with a calmer and firmer approach."
Stronger and Closer than Ever
By having a proactive mindset, Alvin was able to beef up his strategy and protocols for smoother sailing—no matter what came their way. “We not only put a high alert on biosecurity for our livestock but had also done so for the entire organization since the onset of COVID-19," he explains. "The simultaneous and continuous spur of crisis has sharpened us into a better organization and [has] united us further.”
This, of course, would not have been possible without teamwork and determination. Alvin credits his management team’s sheer grit, discipline, and perseverance. He shares, “I’m blessed with having good people. [Although comprised of] a fairly young crew, we are working towards building a more solid organization as the company continues to grow.”
It was also important to Alvin that everyone was on board. “We understood the importance of coordination, resilience, and teamwork. I have personally observed how we try our best to adhere to our corporate core values,” he adds.
