There’s a big gap between farmers and institutions like hotels and restaurants, which is a shame because both really want to work with each other.

Chef Lord Carlo Bayaban, Executive Chef of Westside Resorts has made it his mission to bridge this gap. “We try to advocate a farm to plate initiative,” he said in Taglish.

It started in May 2025, when Food Forward Initiative, an organization of farmers and food industry insiders, invited a group of chefs to visit partner farms in Benguet. “I saw how we can help connect as a hotelier straight to the farm, and what their challenges are as well. It really opened my eyes. I saw that they have the same concerns as we do in lessening the gap,” he said.

“From that experience, I brought it down to corporate. Of course, business is business. Yes, all of us want to help the farmers, but how will it benefit the hotel? We have to use language that both parties can understand.”

As soon as he returned, Bayaban went to work implementing a system for Hilton Manila—where he was then executive chef—to purchase certain vegetables directly from farmers. They started with around 300 kilos of potatoes and around 150 kilos of cabbage a week. By the time he was promoted, Hilton was buying around 12-6 kinds of vegetables from the farmer cooperative. “What’s great was I saved money buying baby carrots from them instead of buying imported,” he said. “We asked them to try growing baby and Japanese cucumbers. I liked their quality more than the imported ones, so we started buying that from them, too.”

After the success of his endeavor, he now emphasizes the importance of demystifying the F&B supply chain. A big part of this involves proper communication.

It can be easy to be intimidated by the number of requirements such as sizing, quality, and paperwork needed to become a supplier. “You can see farmers getting disappointed because they don’t understand the language of the purchaser,” Bayaban said. “Farmers are good at farming, harvesting, and selling, but you can’t tell them to plant only up to two inches or else you won’t buy it. On the corporate side, they’re required to have ISO compliance, and farmers may not understand this.”

This is why extra effort is needed to interpret corporate speak in a way farmers (and honestly, the common person) can understand. This can be as simple as providing clear examples.

“As someone from the hotel industry, I tell them what will pass and fail our standards, so they know what to do. Example, if I receive your vegetables, I don’t require everything to be the same size because I know they can’t do that,” he said. “What you understand is quality. I won’t accept anything spoiled… We’re paying for quality.”

One of the biggest challenges that farmers need to overcome is product degeneration due to improper handling and transport.

“After harvest, through logistics, it gets [to Manila] bruised. We need to fix that,” he said. “While it’s the farmer’s job to provide quality, it’s the government’s job to provide the logistics so that these quality harvests get to Manila intact. Our job as end-users is to make sure we buy everything.”

Government is key when linking farmers and institutional buyers. “Each company has to meet certain requirements set by the government… The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) job is to make sure all Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certified farmers are able and know how to complete these requirements.”

Partnerships should go both ways. Farmers should also understand the constraints that institutional buyers work under. “They won’t pay cash. It’s a minimum of 30 days. Farmers should be ready for that… They need capital if they want to sustain that kind of client.”

Institutions should understand that farmers will “not survive on a bidding process.”

“You cannot eliminate that. That’s how business works,” Bayaban said. “But we can support farmers by buying three or four vegetables under contract every month as a start… If the partnership is feasible, you’ll be the one asking them to plant certain crops because it’s… cheaper than buying trader. All they need is a guarantee that you’ll buy it all.”

Partnership is key. For Bayaban, this means calculating an institution’s monthly consumption of a certain product and creating a standing agreement with the farmers for a weekly delivery. “Let me know when your harvest is and bring it straight to me. I’ll pay for it, guaranteed. That‘s how they can survive. Their harvests are paid for… That’s what partnership means.”

The farmers who worked with Hilton have become friends. One of them was even able to buy a delivery vehicle. “It’s heartwarming,” he said.

“We’ve just worked with them for only two years and we’re already able to feel that. If this was on a bigger scale, can you imagine what will happen to our farmers? They will become entrepreneurs, and that’s the plan… You need faith in others as partners for both sides to be profitable.”