SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Indeed, when boredom strikes, people will always find ways to be active.
That was why during the recent lockdowns implemented due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many took to gardening as a way to keep themselves busy while staying in their homes.
Add to that some local governments’ efforts to encourage backyard farming by distributing free vegetable, and fruit seeds to residents, and it did not take too long when these families started to reap the – literally – fruits of their labor.
Thus, it came as a pleasant surprise to traders here of pots – be these made of clay or plastic – when they started to notice the spike in demand for flower pots with brisk sales being transacted online or through social media.
One such business owner was Ysabella Ynah Castillo-Orden, whose family owned Triple C General Merchandise, which has stalls in this city, experience increased sales of pots.
“Yung paso naging in-demand siya, sa small na puwesto biglang lumaki po siya, tapos bigla nalang pong dumami ang bumibili at interested na magtanim, (The pots became in-demand, in a small stall it suddenly grew, then suddenly there were more buyers came and interested in planting),” Orden said.
“Siguro po upang pang-iwas sa boredom nila sa mga bahay since nirerequest ng government natin na mag stay nalang po tayo sa bahay para safe, kumbaga libangan narin po ito lalo na sa mga mommies, (Maybe to avoid their boredom at home since our government requested that we just stay at home for safety, it seems like it is also a hobby, especially for mommies),” she added.
And with the increase in demand for pots came the surge in income for the family-owned business.
“So far, pambawi sa mga araw na naging down kami. Parang sapat na po siya para sa pamilya (So far, we’ve been able to recover our losses when we were down. And now, its enough for our family),” said Orden.
This holds true in San Juan town where local clay pot makers are now claiming that they have been running out of pots to sell because they can’t produce as many as buyers need.
“Dahil sa COVID-19, sobra ang impact to the highest level ang market demand pati price lakas din impact, madami ang kumikita ngayon at nakikinabang dito sa community namin (Because of COVID-19, the impact was to the highest level because of market demand. The price surge also had an impact. Many are earning much these days, and are doing well in our community),” said Dozen Baduyen, who owns a clay pottery shop in San Juan.