“I was at a lost, then. I don’t know anybody here in Toronto and nobody wants to even help me find a temporary place to stay,” reminisced the boyish-looking Melchor in his early days in Canada.

After finally finding a bachelor’s pad and eventually securing his working permit, the determined Melchor accepted all kinds of job that came his way to augment the meager income from his initial job as a cleaner. He was able to get a caregiver’s job because he was Bachelor of Nursing graduate from the Philippines and he showed that he could use his educational background on this endeavor.

His itch for cooking delicacies, however, hounded him no end, thus, in between his free-time as a dancing instructor (DI), his other job, Melchor resumed his first love and start to make his patented Filipino sweetes and other mouth-watering “finger foods” that found its way to his God-given patron named Flor Vendiola.

Also a native of Sariaya, Flor assisted and guided Melchor in his cooking wizardry and other endeavors and after finally convincing themselves that they could make their products part of the Filipinos tables and palates, Mel and Flor created FV FOODS that slowly became Toronto’s biggest name in producing quality Filipino sweets and delicacies.

“Without Flor, I would and could not do it alone. She’s my guardian angel,” the 30-year-old Melchor said and admitted that he named their business FV FOODS, in honor of his partner who handles the distribution and deliveries of their products almost all over the Greater Toronto Area, while he takes care of the preparation and cooking of their sweets and delicacies.

From the small bachelor’s pad where the business started in 1998, FV FOODS is now housed in a bigger place at 127 Mansville, Unit 2, Scarborough, Ontario, MIL 4J3 with Tel. No. 416 759 2000.

Melchor now is a far cry from the picture of a young man lost in a wilderness of the concrete jungle of Toronto six years ago where he was left almost alone and only survived because of his idealistic and positive vision of his future.

“I know I could do it. I was not afraid to face challenges because I was used to hurdle even the hardest problems I encountered in my sad moments and even during my halcyon days where uneventful came in Sariaya (Quezon),” Melchor quipped.

Melchor was talking about how his business in Quezon was razed by fire that left nothing of his investments, coupled by the tremendous effect of the typhoons on his other business that almost knocked him flat on the ground.

The youngest of the three siblings, Melchor fought back and raised his stocks once again to regain his stature in his neighborhood as the “chef with the sweetest hands” in making delicacies, that he brought here in Toronto which is now considered the hottest Filipino products.

Plain luck? Nope. Success is of one’s doing and Melchor Albudin Galen, with a dedicated and unselfish partner in Flor Vendiola, is on a bright road to the patheon of highly successful entrepreneur this part of the globe and raises the Filipino name in the level of the world’s best in sweets and delicacies making.

Jojo Taduran
Philippine Courier, Toronto