Filipiniana News
By Aida E. D’Orazio
Page 36, March 2008

The following are the two winners for the Outstanding Young Filipino Entrepreneur and the Outstanding Young Professional Awards (YEPA), which was organized by Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT). The awards “recognize young members of the Filipino-Canadian Community who have demonstrated outstanding, innovative and consistent excellent performance in their chosen vocation or profession, while helping to promote and contribute to the advancement of Filipino-Canadians in the Canadian multi-ethnic society,” according to the FCT Website.

Melchor A. Galeon
Entrepreneur, owner of FV Foods

Within a span of ten years in Toronto, Melchor A. Galeon’s business acumen is nothing short of phenomenal. At 38, he owns and manages the successful FV Foods, in partnership with Flor Vendiola, for whom the acronym of the business is named.

Galeon came to Toronto as an exhibitor in the CNE in 1998. He had brought with him native sweets from his hometown, Sariaya, Quezon, and sold them successfully in the Trade Show. From then on, he decided to remain in the city, to find a place to stay and take the risk in Canada without a valid permit. It was then he met partner Vendiola, who helped him find a place to stay and later helped him with his dream of starting a business.