MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF THE

AgriBusiness and Countryside Development Foundation  Office: 22nd Floor Multinational Bancorporation Centre, 6805 Ayala Avenue, Makati City 1600   Tel: (02) 577 7678 or 817-1511  Fax: 811-1024 Cell No: 09177777172  Email: [email protected]  Website: www.map-abcdf.com.ph

22 March 2016 7:30 to 9:00 AM  Missionaries of the Child Jesus, Estrella St. cor. Amapola St., Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City

Using Tropical Fruits and Produce Endemic to the Philippines in Craft Spirits By Ms. Olivia Limpe-Aw, President, Destileria Limtuaco and Company Inc.

Preliminaries 1. The Chairman called the meeting to order. We start on time, +/- 2 minutes. 2. He welcomed all to the foundation for meaningful change that seeks to overthrow by non- violent means corrupt and inefficient systems. The members and guests seek to develop their full potentials here. We also transfer technology that is accurate, comprehensive, timely and profitable. 3. He distributed “Cheers” translated in 105 languages. 4. The country’s democratic system may be dysfunctional given that the state of poverty has remained unchanged for the last 50 years. To the Chairman this is because meritocracy is not practiced.

Go around – each one introduces himself, product, service or advocacy.

1. Ed Rojas is from MFI, the CSR of MIB which is an investment bank. He is interested in spirits but is worried because the Asian’s human liver seems more vulnerable to alcohol. He suspects this is due to the environment/sanitation. He was also drawn to the Lakan said to be distilled 7 times. 2. Lourdes Bautista is from ING which is a Dutch based multinational company with a strong thrust to support agri and value chain companies here in the Philippines. The Chairman mentioned that we have had about 12 years of weekly forum there must be over 500 that we have documented and at least half of them are useful. They are all in the foundation’s web site for easy reference by anyone interested. 3. Mario Susvilla is from Liliw Save Mt. Banahaw Inc. which is an advocacy for environmental preservation. He is interested in as they have now a project for their farmers’ livelihood. 4. Art Olarte is a renewable engineer for solar and hydro. He is also into making and drinking of . He has Libug which is blend of lipote and bugnay which are the only 2 red berries available in the Philippines. He also rans Arsan Wine Supply Equipment, Inc. 5. Stuart Bloom expressed concern for what he perceives as attacks on the BRICS. South Africa is also falling. The refugee crisis is mounting. Will there be a repeat of 1848? The stock market has crashed. There are patterns of manipulation; the bubble has burst. The problem is oil will crash. Where will the excess ships be stored? 6. Arturo Pacho is also interested in producing wine and drinking them as well. He has a book on “tuba” published by the UP Press at P300.00 each. He likes to preserve heritage wines such as tuba, , . He came to learn more. He asked about sin tax which Olive said covers heritage wines except if they are being done by unregistered/colorum groups. 7. Alex Escano is the Chair of private technical, vocational schools, PCAFI, private sector disaster management network, etc. He is also with the Bishops Businessmen’s group.

8. Oscar Barrera is interested in value added products in open areas. 9. Katrina Soza is also here to learn. She has a baking business done at home. 10. Vijay Dargani is in the manufacture of baby food. 11. Dr. Domingo Angeles has been the Dean of Agriculture in UPLB. He is into wine making too. Dr. Angeles has been the foundation’s speaker on mirracle fruit and miracle fruit wine. 12. Others who were not able to introduce themselves: Thelma Murillo, Robert Yupangco and Jose Ingles Jr.

The forum

Introduction of the resource: Alex Excano introduced Olive who is a fifth generation master blender and distiller. She is President of Destileria Limtuaco & Co. Inc., which is the oldest distillery in the Philippines with 164 years of heritage. Olive had a power point presentation during the forum but she did not give it for uploading to the web site.

1. Olive runs the business as she had no brothers but had 6 sisters and she was the one interested in it. She hopes to pass it on to her sons who will become the 6th generation. 2. 14 years ago in 2002 as she was going on foreign sorties with the then President Fidel Ramos; she knew she had to come out with a different product that is a best of the Philippines and this was the mango. Thus the Paradise Mango Rum . It was not easy at that time to sell it at P300.00/bottle which seemed expensive. The label featured the Philippines’ vinta, seascape, tree and landscape. Though many were making all sorts of craft spirits, they could not be brought out of the country as they were not complying with international standards. She observed that people needed them also as gifts. They did beautiful packaging and people liked them, promoting the country with pride. 3. The Amadeo Coffee Liqueur followed based on the prevailing coffee culture and using the Amadeo trademark, the Philippine coffee capital. As usual the label bore Philippine icons like flowers, the abanico fan, waling-waling flower. 4. In 2014, came Manille de because New York people liked the calamnsi’s flavor and zest. In September 2015, Chef Gaita Fores suggested use of the dalandan which gave birth to Manille Liqueurs de Dalandan. The beautiful packaging carried on which also helped change the industry here. 5. Last year, the Very Old Captain Artisan Dark Rum came about from tapping the sugar cane juice and molasses. But since our sugar industry was not operating very effectively, our molasses were black. For a good rum, it underwent the batch distilled processing. Or it was blended with a light rum. They used nice canisters where the bottles were put for a nice packaging. It also aided marketing and distribution which was important. One has to always invest in marketing, packaging and distribution. One sales outlet for their products is SM Kultura where many go as balikbayans and tourists or to buy something local to give as gifts abroad. 6. Working with LGUs and going regional gave birth to the Vigan Sugar Cane Wine popularly called the Basi with lots of herbs and barks. The barks added color. They were aged in barrels. The design used Vigan heritage: village, barong, brown color for the color of wood, etc.

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7. As a company, they had to revise and improve always. She always wanted not to be like imported products. She wanted to use what we have locally but make a global product. 8. When Imee Marcos saw that Ilocos Sur had a distinct product, she wanted also something from Ilocos Norte. She learned that they had dragon fruit. Olive came out with the Dragon Fire Red Dragon Fruit Wine which many Chinese tourists liked because of its red color which was associated with luck and had many health benefits from the dragon fruit. Ilocos Norte also had garlic, onion, ginger, chili. Taking the garlic and onion she made them to cooking wine. They initially were thinking of calling it Imelda cooking wine but since it may have a negative effect, they instead decided to call it “Imeldifique” which meant luxurious with humor. Again the bottle and label design were iconic. 9. What benefits does promoting local, going global bring? A). It does the country proud. These are feel good stories that give a sense of fulfillment. B). It helps in nation building. Since different products are involved there are also different styles. For the coffee, they found it difficult to go direct to the farmers as they are controlled by the traders. For calamansi, she found the best model in the Mindoro Farmers Calamansi Association which elects a President and a Head of Marketing who are also farmers. Before the start of the season, they already ask their markets including Olive’s firm their volume requirement. When the farm is ready to harvest, DA provides the truck to deliver to the customer. The association is professional and organized. That coop also helps other coops who want to learn from it. For the dalandan, there is no organized coop. Olive can buy also from Mindoro and also has a source from . 10. A video was shown featuring movers and shakers like celebrities, politicians, chefs, etc. who partnered with Olive (ex. Senator Angara, DA Sec.Alcala, Sen. Coco Pimentel, Apa Ongpin, Marcos Family, RJ Jacinto) . They have used their products like for different dishes including cakes; sold them in trade fairs, promoted them as an advocacy, used by government as gifts in the recent APEC held in Manila, etc. Market gimmicks are needed. 11. The essential oils and rinds from the citrus fruits are used in soap making through cold press processing c/o Dr. Rainier Villanueva who is commercializing it. The US also imports it since it is all natural. 12. She thinks more can be done with the Sugar Cane Industry. If there is more moral leeway, more can be contributed. 13. One needs a good product, a nice story and publicity. This must be done multi-media: press releases, blogs, awards, TV appearances, etc. 14. One must also be the right time and place.

Open Forum:

1. Stuart Bloom shared that since he has been in the children’s toy business, he sees the need for seasonality like in packaging children’s gifts. Emphasize gifts, use bundling, the canister is nice. Olive said their products sell at the Duty Free and they are the top seller. Stuart said he came from the Boston Co. and suggests a bartending and recipe book. Maybe consolidate the book and web site. Olive said she is also in the publishing business with Asian Dragon that is the 1st bilingual business and lifestyle magazine in the Philippines. (Each was given a copy of the magazine’s Nov-Dec. 2015 issue plus samples of the Mango, Coffee and Calamansi liqueurs.) The cooking wine may be an untapped sub-sector. One can be made for marinating. Stuart closed by saying that Olive has done a great job.

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2. The Chairman suggested the concept of food pairing. Olive will think about it as pairing may not be part of our culture and it may look intimating for some. 3. The Chairman said Olive should join the International Wine and Food Society which does not serve and wines. We need to have a national drink but our colonial mentality may have made us biased. Create a Filipino and maybe name it Mabuhay Manila which some may have found “baduy”. 4. In response to Vijay Dargani, Olive said their vision was to export their products but one needs to market locally first. 5. SM Kultura is their best market as people who go there are really looking for Philippine products. We know how many Filipinos prefer to buy imported ones. 6. Stuart suggested private labelling, to represent brands especially if there is excess capacity in the plant. 7. The Chairman suggested that if alcohol is seen as negative, a health benefit should be highlighted like red wine being good for the heart. Olive said she hopes UPLB can work with them on this. 8. Aside from physical stores, Olive also sells online and allows use of credit card and delivery. 9. Robert Yupangco inquired about wine/ “tapuy”. Olive said she did not want to go into areas that may affect food security. 10. Someone suggested legislation for a Regional/ Filipino corner in supermarkets, wine stores, etc. to encourage patronage of Filipino products. Olive said maybe this is an advocacy this foundation can do. 11. Arturo Pacho wanted to know if he can be given access to Olive’s plant as he wants to show these to those in the backyard operation but Olive does not usually do. The tax is based on the selling price which is proof based. Olive is also the head of the Distilled Spirits Association of the Philippines so she knows the tax issues as they were even invited to the hearings. All categorized under distilled spirits have to pay taxes without exception. Maybe only those which are not registered/ are colorum do not pay these taxes. (There may be those inside the forests who pay to their LGUs.) 12. Their “White Castle” is no. 2 but it is costly to sell nationwide to sari-sari stores. 13. To be competitive, one has to meet global standards. We are moving from trade to non- trade barriers. This means we want to sell to others but do not want to buy. So legislation should up standards to make them market standards. 14. Andrew Tan’s purchase of a Spanish brand may be to secure its raw material that comes from Spain.

Closing The plaque of appreciation was awarded by Alex Escano to Olive as today’s resource speaker for the promotion of agribusiness and countryside development. Olive was also given a copy of the Chairman’s 3 books: Great Men, Different and Quantum Mutations. Next forum meeting will be same day, time and place with Charlie Villasenor as speaker about Supply Chain Management and Competitiveness. The meeting was declared adjourned and private interaction commenced with the speaker and with the other attendees.

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