CEBUANO entrepreneurs Elton and Catherine Salimbangon of Organique Inc. are ready to penetrate the ASEAN market.
Catherine on Tuesday said they will be expanding to Singapore and Vietnam next year for Organique, an acai berry health drink, to capture the 600 million ASEAN consumers.
The couple is allotting an estimated $2 million to facilitate their expansions plans—a distribution office in Singapore and a manufacturing and distribution facilities in Vietnam—which will also handle production of other product lines, including skin care.
“The ASEAN region is our focus next year,” said Catherine, who is the firm’s vice-president.
The couple sought the expertise of Professor Enrique Soriano, a business consultant, to guide them in their regional expansion. Soriano, also a business columnist of Sun.Star Cebu, has been encouraging small and medium enterprises to explore regional markets to take advantage of the huge market opportunities.
“We are currently studying the markets of Singapore and Vietnam—learning how they do business, their language, their culture, etc. It will not be an easy journey but we are taking risks,” said Catherine, adding that the growth stories of Filipino companies already present in ASEAN like Splash, Liwayway, Rebisco, Universal Robina Corp. and Unilab, give them confidence.
Organique is manufactured in Pasadena, California. The brand is already present in the US, Middle East, Japan and the Philippines.
Aside from expanding in ASEAN, the couple will also build a manufacturing facility in the Philippines next year to serve the local market.
For six years, the couple has been working hard to market the product, especially that acai berry is not popular among Filipinos. However, the global shift to a healthy lifestyle among consumers has helped the brand cement its position in the market.
“Consumers now realize the benefits of going back to nature—the simpler the better. The prevalence of serious illnesses even to young people has encouraged the consumers to shift to a healthier lifestyle,” said Catherine.
Organique Inc. is this year’s Agora Awardee for Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship under the medium scale category.
The Agora Award is regarded as the most prestigious, often called the “Oscars of Philippine marketing.” A project of the Philippine Marketing Association, Agora Awards are a “testament to the passion dedication, brilliance and commitment of excellent individuals and companies in the marketing industry.”
The couple is joined by other awardees—Dr. Maynoll Montalbo of Mont Albo Wellness Corp. (small scale) and William Lim, president and CEO of Mega Global (large scale).
Catherine worked as a nurse in the US while her husband Elton was a former manager for a US beverage company before they moved back to Cebu.
Although the Salimbangons belong to the prominent circle in Cebu, Catherine said their success in the business was a product of their own hardwork and determination.