CAGAYAN de Oro City — Before Vengie Villanueva Mencias became an agribusiness entrepreneur, he was a boy who watched his parents work hard in the peanut fields to provide for their family.
He grew up seeing the sacrifices behind every harvest, from planting and waiting for the crops to selling the peanuts they worked hard to produce.
But he also saw a problem that many small farmers continue to face: despite months of hard work, they often receive low prices for their harvest.
His parents struggled with limited market access and dependence on middlemen, making it difficult to earn enough from their farm produce.
“I learned that behind every harvest is a farmer who invests not only money and time but also hope for a better future,” Mencias said.
Those childhood experiences later shaped his decision to establish Y’Nut Food Products, a peanut-processing enterprise based in Carmen.
Instead of selling peanuts only as raw produce, Mencias saw an opportunity to turn them into finished products that could reach more consumers and bring greater value to local farmers.
Turning a childhood lesson into a business
Mencias said he wanted to do something for the farming communities that shaped his childhood.
“I did not want to simply become someone who benefited from agriculture. I wanted to become part of the solution,” he said.
That idea became the foundation of Y’Nut.
The company processes locally grown peanuts into peanut oil, peanut butter, peanut flour, peanut crumbs, CrunchNut and PeanuPolvoron.
For Mencias, the business is about more than making and selling food products. It is also about giving farmers better market opportunities and connecting them to a wider agricultural value chain.
Starting the business, however, was not easy.
Mencias said Y’Nut faced challenges in funding, production, market access and business development.
Still, he continued because his reason for starting the business remained clear: helping farmers get more value from what they produce.
Growing with local farmers
What started as a business idea has developed into an enterprise with partnerships involving 312 peanut farmers across Region XII.
Y’Nut reports a potential supply capacity of up to 40 metric tons of raw peanuts monthly.
The farmer network gives the company access to local raw materials while opening additional market opportunities for agricultural producers.
For Mencias, these partnerships are central to the business's purpose.
He wants farmers to be recognized not just as suppliers of raw peanuts but as partners in creating products with greater market value.
His goal is to help build a stronger Filipino peanut industry where farmers can benefit from more opportunities beyond selling their harvests.
A lesson for young entrepreneurs
Mencias' journey also carries a message for young people who want to start their own businesses.
An entrepreneurial idea does not always have to come from something new or unfamiliar. Sometimes, it can begin with a problem seen in one's own family or community.
In his case, it was the difficulty his parents experienced in earning a fair income from peanut farming.
Instead of turning away from that experience, he used it as the starting point for a business.
Y’Nut has since brought its products beyond North Cotabato. In October 2026, it joined four other Filipino agribusiness startups in showcasing their products and business models at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Summit in Singapore.
The international participation marked another step in the company's effort to bring locally made peanut products to a wider market.
But for Mencias, business growth alone will not define success.
“I believe that the greatest success of Y’Nut will not be measured only by how big the business becomes, but by how many farming families we can help along the way,” he said.
For a young entrepreneur who grew up watching his parents work in the peanut fields, that remains the purpose behind the business.
His story shows how a childhood experience can grow into an idea—and how that idea can create opportunities for others.
