27th. Negros Trade Fair Feature Stories

REENA PEÑA

New Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Legacy at Negros Trade Fair

Doreen Gamboa Fernandez is an icon in the Food Industry, not as a chef which are plentiful, but as a competent and creative food critique of which she is a pioneer, and a master on Philippine culture particularly that which wove around the celebrations of life around the table.

This year, her niece, namesake, and goddaughter Doreen Alicia Gamboa Peña (Reena) will unfold creations which will reveal that Doreen left more than just food on the table.

Unknown to many, the elder Doreen had a collection of the now almost extinct Spanish mantilla…intricately hand-embroidered patterns on fine mesh. These mantillas were lovingly kept in camphor chests by Reena since these were bequeathed by Doreen.

Reena had been in business since the first Negros Trade Fair, crafting a variety of products from handmade paper to resin home accessories. She found inspiration everywhere, from her garden to the mountains. And all these were transformed into new life in each of the shows joined by Reena, which now number about a hundred through the years.

This year, Reena, after looking out of her window for years, has instead turned back and began to look inside her house until her eyes focused on the camphor chest with Doreen’s mantillas.

At Silay Export’s booth (A52 and A55) in the forthcoming 27th Negros Trade Fair to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City, Doreen’s legacy on the table will extend to pretty chargers, napkin rings, and coasters of laminated lace.

Taking off from the lace inspiration which jump-started her new line, Reena’s new collection reflects the country’s Spanish heritage. Candelabra, wall decor and other luminaries, while still using the mantilla theme, will have enhancements that are fused with inspiration from old Spanish carvings. Most pieces, particularly the table top items, are sold at less than P1,000.00.

CRIS VILLACIN

Message in a Necklace

It was 2004, Cris Villacin had just survived years of cancer treatment and now, with her husband’s sugar business in a bind, the family was facing bankruptcy. They had sold their beautiful house and two brand new cars, and then moved into a modest apartment. In the midst of all the penny-pinching and bringing up two teenage kids, Cris received a gift from a friend just come home from a beach vacation. It was a necklace of beads and shells, still with the price tag on. Two things impressed Cris, the materials were not extraordinary, but the price was high. Something told her she could do better, although she never made jewelry before. With P500.00 in her wallet, Cris went to the local market and purchased beads and string. The long story short, Cris made a few necklaces and sold them all for threefold her investment. Back then, it was at best, a hobby that got lucky.

Since at first Cris couldn’t afford membership at the Association of Negros Producers, her friend Lourdes Valderrama sold Cris’ jewelry at the Showroom of the ANP. In 2005, Crisvil Enterprises was put up with P8,000.00 in capital, and Cris became a member of the ANP. Just when things were taking off, Cris’ husband was suddenly diagnosed with terminal cancer, and by 2006 he was gone.

What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. That adage, plus two kids in school, and an unshakable belief in an abiding God, turned Cris into a resilient business woman. Cris has never looked back since, with her creations proving to be one of the most commercially successful at the Showroom and at the Negros Trade Fair since the year she entered. On the side, Cris bagged three ANP Bulawan Awards for Product Design in seven years, making her company one of the “winningest” in the ANP today.

The secret of Cris lies in this, that she always wants her products to be unique. Consequently, every piece looks custom-made, but in fact Cris moves dozens of them off the shelf in every Negros Trade Fair. Among others, she has jewelries fashioned out of leather and bags carved out of bamboo. In fact, these have been her most sought after pieces in recent years. Specialty stores, like the Ayala Museum Gift Shop and Narda’s, like to carry Crisvil creations for this emphasis on uniqueness.

The focus doesn’t waver. At the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City, the Crisvil Booth B03 will showcase the company’s new collection. Among them, chic leather masks with Swarovski crystals, a product line expansion of her leather jewelry. In a revolutionary move, Cris introduces these masks as part of any fashionable woman’s wardrobe accessories. A completely new line of metal accessories will also be launched at this year’s fair. Cris’ fascination with uniqueness was recently given a boost with the installation of a metal casting and plating facility at Crisvil Enterprises.

MARYANN COLMENARES

Jelly Fish Inspire a New Home Accessory Line

Seven days out of 365 in a year, the beach waters in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, darken with the presence of jelly fish. On one of these seven days this year, artist and entrepreneur Mary Ann Feria Colmenares was ready to jump into the waters to swim, only to be dismayed by the presence of jelly fish in the waters.

Not one to waste time or opportunity to create magic out of the sights and sound of nature, Mary Ann spent the rest of the day at the beach absorbing the forms and movements of the jelly fish in the water.

The inspiration from the beach has now taken form into jelly fish inspired home tassels, tablecloth weights, and other pretty pieces. They will take center stage in Anaware’s exhibition Booths A24 and A25 at the forthcoming 27th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City.

ISA & INES

Growing Up Stylish

Taste and style may be developed through study and practice, but the proclivity for it seems to be required in one’s DNA. It cannot be imagined. It cannot be assumed. At the Association of Negros Producers (ANP), fashion sense for the very young is shared by the mother-daughter link of Isa Lovina and Ines Santiago.

Isa began her company, Vicmik Enterprises, in 1982. Even then, the branding intention was clear, to combine the traditional crafts of hand-smocking and hand-embroidery with Western fashion flair to create children’s apparel that is traditionally tasteful yet updated and stylish. Vicmik’s “Ines Moda Infantil” line has expertly preserved these traditional crafts, keeping the look classic and fun.

Year after year, at the Negros Trade Fair in Manila, Isa unveils her new collection, never failing to awe mothers and grandmothers whose utmost desire is to dress up their toddlers in clothes that clearly evoke Western comfort and elegance, the kind you might see only in American and European catalogs and show windows.

Daughter Ines Santiago joined the industry sometime after the birth of her son. Showing keen interest in the business, Isa helped Ines start her own children’s apparel enterprise, but it wasn’t long before Ines was on her. Ines’ line, “In the Crib”, includes clothes for infants. Come to think of it, this market is hungry for styling. Ines’ designs gives new moms relief from diapers and dreary pajamas, surely practical but needlessly bare and boring. Style sense, after all, must be suggested early on. With this, the mother-daughter tandem of Isa and Ines solidly covers all formative years, baptizing children with good fashion sense

Today, Isa and Ines continue to help each other through a constant exchange of ideas, playing each other’s best consultant and ardent critic, shopping for raw materials together, bouncing off creative concepts. While Isa has been exporting her children’s apparel for years, both she and Ines make their creations constantly available to the prime market of Manila. They run We Play, a store located on Kensington Place, 1^st Avenue, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. At the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City, their designs will fill the Ines Moda Infantil Booths A09, A10, and A11.

FAMILY FOOD

Gathering around food is a tradition of families the world over. But in Negros, it’s good business, too. Three families in the membership of the Association of Negros Producers (ANP) celebrate their enduring love for food and desire to share with others the rare delight of culinary secrets handed down through generations.

Papa Daniel was a real father, in fact the father of GSIS Gov. Daniel Lacson, Jr. But to the governor’s wife, Tima, Papa Daniel is also a brand of preserved food using the old man’s recipes. Long before there were supermarkets and canned sardines, people made their own, as the real Papa Daniel once did. That same process of preserving and bottling good food is once again celebrated in Tima Lacson’s line of Papa Daniel products now sold through Casa Carmela. From sardines to smoked bangus, from unwrapped chorizo to shredded quail meat, Papa Daniel is a delicious treat from a treasured past.

Meanwhile, Tima’s daughter is cooking up something else. Carla Lacson holds her own with a food business she has started with her cousins. Carla handles the marketing management of Felicia’s, a pastry shop and fine dining restaurant. Just like Papa Daniel, the pastry shop uses recipes handed down from a generation before, a Lacson aunt in fact. Felicia’s 15-layer gateau de sans rival, chocolate cake, and almondette candies are the most popular. At the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, Papa Daniel products will be sold at Casa Carmela Booths A39 and A40, while Felicia’s will be at Booth A41.

Pickling is a skill that may be learned, but best handed down because of the art, technique, and secrets involved, which require years to develop and perfect. That’s the advantage of Francis Hom, second-generation pickle producer who takes his lead from the vast experience of his mother, Teresita, and an established pickle brand, T-Flavors, now selling not only in Negros but also in Cebu and Panay. The brand may have started only in 1991, but Teresita Hom, who comes from a brood of 10 good cooks, has been pickling in her family’s ancestral kitchen since she was young. But work doesn’t even begin there. It starts out in the field, growing and picking the right vegetables. Teresita talks of some curious “vegetable behavior” that, if not understood, can cause an unwary pickler to fail. Work also begins at the wet market, choosing the right-size fish and shrimps, watching out for fish roe and shellfish.

Since 2010 when Francis left his 17-year work in a multinational company to join T-Flavors, he has been keenly observing the details of the pickling trade. From the lowly pickled papaya, today, the company takes pride in a product line consisting of two dozen pickled products, preserves, and appetizers. Their best sellers include the guinamos bisaya (shrimp paste), tinabal (fish paste), and sinamak (spiced vinegar). T-Flavors pickles a range of vegetables, including bamboo shoots, eggplant, bitter gourd, and water chestnuts. They also have high-end choices, including preserved fish roe and small crabs, salsa de bacalao (codfish), and mejillones (mussels). At the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, T-Flavors will be at Booth A27.

When Cesar Locsin handed over the management of his El Ideal bakery to his daughter Alice Villanueva in the 1950s, he probably didn’t imagine that the tradition would go on for many generations thereafter. Started in the 1920s, El Ideal today is run by third generation Maritess Sanchez, ably assisted by fourth generation Mark. From a one-oven bakery turning out fresh bread and specialty cookies, El Ideal has expanded its product line to include a wide assortment of refreshment food. Asked what are the best sellers, Maritess finds herself in a jam trying to whittle down the list to a few, because many of her products have consistent popular following, from the guapple pie to the coconut pie, from the empanada to the fresh lumpia, from the classic banyadas to the new angel cookies.

Son Mark, who finished a degree in Entrepreneurship with an eye to help in the family business, couldn’t have joined El Ideal at a more timely fashion. Suddenly, the company is poised to tap new opportunities. Located in historic Silay City, El Ideal now finds itself near the new Silay-Bacolod airport. After close to a hundred years, El Ideal’s old location is undergoing a rebirth, and with it, its products. El Ideal is more than just a place to take refreshment. Now, its products are “pasalubong” fare.

El Ideal has participated in all Negros Trade Fairs. Maritess finds the occasion a chance to test new products, find new customers, build a brand, and enjoy the camaraderie of friendly competitors, while checking what they’re up to. At the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City, El Ideal products will be sold at the El Ideal Booth A33 & A34.

HERBANEXT

Trendy and Healthy

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, they say. Natural products with medicinal properties have long been challenged by pharmaceuticals eager to defend their market share, to admit that they do not have proven healing effects. Yet, that has not stopped society from leaning towards natural products. Demand for organically grown produce continues to surge, as well as demand for natural supplements. For while drug companies lay claim to the curative benefits of their synthetic pills, people are beginning to take serious interest in preventing disease the natural way, for who wants to get sick in the first place?

At the Trendy Awards of the 8^th International Food Exhibition, Herbanext Laboratories, with its Sweet Roselle Chips, won second place from among 22 contenders. Trendy Awards celebrates innovations in content and packaging of new food products, and the Sweet Roselle Chips is a fun way to snack and stay healthy and lean. The recognition, however, is icing on the cake. What matters more is the distinguished list of judges that included Nora Daza, Nancy Reyes-Lumen, Glenda Baretto, Claude Tayag, Margarita Fores, among others, all big names in the food industry. Their nod meant the acceptance of the Roselle in mainstream food circles.

TOYM Awardee Philip Cruz is at the helm of Herbanext Laboratories, a manufacturer of herbal extracts, neutraceuticals, and functional foods established in 2001. A passionate believer in nature’s power to heal, Cruz runs a fully integrated operation complete with its own nursery and research farm, laboratory facility, and marketing company, the Daily Apple Distribution. In 2009, Herbanext sought partnerships with local farmer groups for large-scale, contract-growing of plants needed by Herbanext in its formulations. Among these is the Roselle. Negrense farmers were taught organic agriculture practices and knowledge in harvesting and processing.

Heading the list of products manufactured by Herbanext is the Roselle product line. Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), a hibiscus native to the Philippines and Asia, has been found rich in calcium, niacin, riboflavin, iron, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidants, fiber, and Vitamin C. The deep red flower of Roselle has, in fact, been extensively used in folk medicine to lower blood pressure and as treatment for cardiac and nerve diseases. Today, the Roselle line of Herbanext includes six products: the all-natural snack Sweet Roselle Chips, the refreshing and nutritious drink Roselle Herb Cooler, Roselle Tea, Roselle Fiber Strips snacks, Roselle Jam, and the Roselle-flavored Hydrolean Slimming Drink. The Roselle product line and other Herbanext products are available at Daily Apple stores found in major malls. At the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City, Herbanext products will be sold at the Herbanext Booths A45 and A46.

ATELIER AGUILA

Green Functional Art

Most unique handcrafted furniture pieces are called functional art. Although they clearly serve a function—you can sit on them, eat on them, lie on them—it is their art that sets them apart from ordinary furniture. It is their art that grants them a higher value than say, mass-produced plastic tables and chairs from Guangzhou. But there is even a higher form of functional art. It is Green Functional Art, the kind that Karl Aguila creates.

Karl is an artist, a sculptor in fact, and so his name can only be associated with pieces that are one-of-a-kind, created by hand, with no molds, no production line, no special high-tech equipment. And then Karl is passionate about environmental conservation and preservation. These two priorities come together in every piece of furniture produced by Karl’s company, Atelier Aguila. Established in 2005, Atelier Aguila was inspired when Karl chanced upon semi-petrified timber buried deep in the ground of his native Dumaguete. The discovery convinced him to pursue the creation of environmentally conscious works of functional art. It persuaded him to push his artistic expression beyond the realm of self-satisfaction.

Karl has a penchant for salvaged wood and stone. Trained in the United States and Europe, Karl hones local craftsmen in the meticulous and careful handling of antique materials. But patience is required for these materials are rare and the waiting can prove long between finds. Sunken logs and driftwood, planks from shipwrecks, lumber from demolished antebellum homes, century-old railroad ties, and excavated prime timber are transformed into artistic dining and coffee tables, buffet tables, arm chairs and benches, shelves, apothecaries, and other storage units. Meanwhile, agricultural artifacts are the main elements of Karl’s objets d’art, and these include animal relics and limestone grinders once used to mill rice and corn. These are brought back to life as distinctive accent décor for the home.

See Karl’s green functional art at the Atelier Aguila Booths ____ at the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City.

VITO MASKS

Mask Maker to the World

Jojo Vito is now known, even in the Big Apple, as the mask maker. At the 2012 Philippine Independence Day Parade in Manhattan, the Masskara Festival dancers, wearing Jojo’s masks, went home with the grand price trophy in the Marchers’ Category. In a field of competing dancers, Jojo’s creations had to be the group’s winning factor.

“Forever-smiling” masks serve as the icon of the world-famous Masskara Festival of Bacolod City. They are forever smiling because they symbolize the need to hide the pains of a people impoverished by the sugar crisis of the mid-1980s, and distraught by the tragic sinking of the M/V Don Juan passenger ship carrying families of Negrenses. To escape the hurt and suggest joy, the Masskara Festival was created, and with it, masks that smiled forever. But the road to mask success wasn’t all smiles for Jojo Vito.

In 2005, Jojo’s printing business was teetering at the edge of bankruptcy. Around the same time, he was invited to display his products at the Showroom of the Association of Negros Producers (ANP). Never one to say no to an opportunity, Jojo accepted the invitation and then worried what to display. He had none, at first. He then began producing paper bags and stamped the name of Bacolod City on them. The Showroom being a souvenir shop, the paper bags sold fast. Jojo also tried to embellish the bags with beads and ceramic tags, but while sales was brisk, profit remained little. Jojo knew he had to do something else with his paper.

Despite the rocky road, the new company, VITO Prints & Pieces, weighed the assets in its arsenal. It had an inventory of paper from its printing press days. It had access to a vibrant souvenir market at the ANP Showroom. And it was based in Bacolod, home of the Masskara Festival. Put together, these three led Jojo to one brilliant idea: sell papier mache masks as souvenirs. The masks were an overnight sensation at the Showroom, and at the Negros Trade Fair in Manila that year, Jojo’s supply didn’t last very long.

The following year, 2006, VITO Prints & Pieces received multiple orders from companies who wanted the masks as corporate giveaways. The avenue posed a new problem. Jojo worried that if the giveaways were brought to foreign countries where the temperature was unlike the Philippines’, the papier mache could sag and the masks could disintegrate. Product development ensued, resulting in the shift to fiberglass. The improvement also supported the demand shift of the masks from a purely festival item to a year-round product.

Today, VITO Prints & Pieces focuses on masks, but it has expanded the product line to include home décor, trophies, keychains, magnets, even fashion accessories. To attend to the escalating demand, a new factory was built in Talisay City, and the Jojo Vito Designs Gallery was opened in Bacolod. The products have since been distributed in Davao and Gen. Santos City. At the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City, Jojo’s masks and other creations will be available at the VITO Prints & Pieces Booth C02.

MANON HERNAEZ

From Hardware to Finery

Manon Campos Hernaez’s love affair with the hardware goes a long way back. Being an Interior Designer, Manon’s trips to the hardware were once a necessary part of her profession. But as she began to venture into other creative passions, especially crafting beads and bangles, the home of bolts and screws became Manon’s destination for an endless possibility of raw materials for the finest of crafts.

Manon’s hardware finds will soon adorn the necks of pretty ladies and clasp their wrists as she has skillfully manipulated hard metal into fashionable accessories. It was a long process of experiments for Manon until she got the patina that she wanted. After the experimental stages, Manon then had to scour a selection of car shops and machine shops which could possibly replicate the process she perfected.

Well done, and just in time, Manon’s creations are now ready for the 27th Negros Trade Fair to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City. See Manon’s latest collection at the Marayo Booth A66.

NEGRENSE VOLUNTEERS FOR CHANGE

Upcycles for Feeding Cycles

Beadwork from old evening gowns, broken tiles from construction sites and hardwares, soft metal pods that once held single servings of cream in coffee shops, and beads from discarded bangles. All these take new form and function after volunteer artists and designers, crafters and artisans transform them into functional pieces to be sold at the forthcoming 27th Negros Trade Fair. The items were crafted to support the Start Right, Live Bright Nutrition Program for infants and toddlers of the Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) Foundation, Inc.

NVC Foundation’s booth features napkin rings that are part of a varied assortment of table linen collections, bags of varied shapes and sizes, mosaic-topped photo frames and folding tables, gilded religious mosaic frames, and upscale-design jewelry, all crafted by the Foundation’s volunteers. Approximately 80% of the items crafted by the volunteers are recycled from other sources. These are gathered by another set of volunteers, including friends in Manila who share NVC’s passion for infant nutrition.

The Foundation’s focus on infants and toddlers stemmed from studies which show that from 6 months onwards, mother’s milk is no longer sufficient to provide an infant with all the nutritional requirements for holistic growth, and improved nutrition after age of three cannot compensate fully for what was lost in the early years. NVC hopes to do its share in filling the gap, inasmuch as most other feeding programs, both of government and private organizations, ocus on children in Day Care Centers and in schools, who already are above the critical age.

NVC’s Social Enterprise manufactures instant complementary food for infants, and nutritious curls for older children. While initially concentrating on approximately 4,000 infants from the poorest of the poor in Negros Occidental, more beneficiaries are currently being identified in Negros Oriental. It also supplies some feeding programs in Manila and Zamboanga.

The wide range of products crafted by the hands and hearts of volunteers will be among the items found at the NVC Booth C07 at the 27th Negros Trade Fair, to be held Sept. 26-30 at the Rockwell Tent in Makati.

The 27^th Negros Trade Fair is a not-for-profit undertaking of the ANP designed to give small and medium entrepreneurs of Negros a window to Manila and beyond. Inspired by the theme BEYOND LIMITS, this year’s trade fair will feature innovative products from the five sectors of the ANP: Fashion, Furniture, Gifts & Housewares, Food, and Organic and Natural Products. When the fair starts on Sept. 26, over 70 booths will be selling new and exciting creations.

The 27^th Negros Trade Fair will be open to the public from 11a.m. to 9p.m. on Sept. 26 to 28 (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday), and from 10a.m. to 9p.m. on Sept. 29 and 30 (Saturday and Sunday). Entrance fee is P40. For more information on the 27^th Negros Trade Fair, call (034)434-1000 or 0922-871-6131. Email at membership@anp-philippines.com, or follow us on Facebook.