THREE months after NutriRich Philippines Davao Fine Tablea started as a chocolate maker, the budding cacao player has already started to innovate from the traditional tablea.
The company, at present, is leading the way in making fine tablea, where the traditional product is already refined with 100 percent unsweetened chocolate. It has no sugar, just pure cocoa.
The fine tablea are made from Davao cacao beans and bulk for chocolates.
Harleen Jao, owner of NutriRich, said that as they are still new in the industry, they are still in the process of penetrating the market in the country.
“We are slowly giving our share in the market by providing chocolate product supplies such as tableas. As we strongly promote chocolate products made with Davao’s cacao, we are also gearing up our production because the demand is increasing, we have to meet the demand,” she said.
Their business started out as a hobby and passion in making and drinking traditional hot chocolate, but because of Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao (Cidami), they were given the venue to display their own products and hear feedback through participating in the second Davao Chocolate Festival at the SM City Ecoland last September 25 to 27.
Tableas “are pure cacao beans that are dried, roasted, ground and then formed into tablets traditionally used in the Philippines to make hot chocolate.”
“As a new member of Cidami, the prime mover of the cacao industry in Mindanao, we share the same sentiments with the players that is we should not just push our cacao beans as the only export product to Europe and other countries but also the value-added products like the high-quality tablea, chocolates, other applications for cosmetics, for bakery, among others,” Jao added.
NutriRich also promotes their business as a pasalubong center. Also, it seeks to continue the Filipino tradition while innovating the taste of Tablea.
“Since Koreans and Chinese are here in the city we intentionally put translations to our brand name, so that even in a small hint they can understand what the product is all about and it would encourage them to try, it is more of a some kind of marketing strategy,” said Jao.
The tablea maker is a member of Cidami, who co-presented the Chocolate festival with SM City Davao. (With Kelly Ruth Serenio and Jerrick Luy, AdDU Interns)