00:00When I found out that I was going to be interviewing you guys, I heard the name Hortales
00:03and the first thing that came to my mind, the Hortales are products of my youth.
00:06A cuticle remover, the small bottles, the packaging, plus the hairspray.
00:11This was your dad's original product?
00:13Yes, yes. And we're very, very familiar with this category, the market for stalker and beauty.
00:20And we're exploring relaunching old brands like Sansan Cosmetics. We're familiar.
00:25Yeah, of course. Parang anong balik yung pagkabata ko. These are all familiar brands.
00:36Alfonso, can you give us like a brief background? Paano ba nag-umpisa yung family business?
00:42Well, it started with my dad. His family used to have these outlets, yung Hortales outlets.
00:47They mainly sold beauty products. So, when my sister was born, yung eldest sister namin,
00:55it wasn't enough kasi they were doctors eh. Tapos, medyo bitin yung income nila.
01:00So, they decided to go into business. So, they started supplying
01:04yung stores na ito ng beauty products. So, nag-start sa hairspray, and eventually,
01:09tuloy-tuloy na yung mga products. So, nagkaroon ng stringent, nagkaroon ng facial cleanser,
01:14extract. But the biggest, first biggest product nila is was Extraderm.
01:18So, nagbunga ng ibang brands like Skinwhite, Betres, Hygienics. So, those are the brands
01:25that nag-start yung family namin.
01:28Can you tell us, Alexon, yung pagiging doktor ng parents nyo, what was their field?
01:34What was their specialty?
01:35Pedient Optoma.
01:36Pedient Optoma.
01:37So, paano sila napasok sa beauty products? How did they get into that?
01:41My dad's family was into retailing of beauty products. They saw the potential of supplying
01:46to that store. So, they started their own manufacturing.
01:50Alright. Because, you know, when I found out that I was going to be interviewing you guys,
01:54I heard the name Hortales. And the first thing that came to my mind, the Hortales are products
01:57of my youth. So, yung mga cuticle remover and, you know, the small bottles, the packaging,
02:04plus the hairspray. This was your dad's original product?
02:10Yes. Yes.
02:10We just want to add that in the history of the family business,
02:15tuloy-tuloy din yung mga magagandang products or innovation na gawa ng family namin.
02:20So, I mentioned Elphonse Extraderm. It was actually the first exfoliating product in the market.
02:26We also launched SkinWhite. It was actually one of the pioneers of the whitening category.
02:31We also launched Vitres, the cuticle coat product, which is also first in the industry.
02:37So, throughout that time ng family business, it's well out of innovation.
02:42That all started with your father and your mom. They were partners in the business.
02:46They're really a tandem. So, my dad focused on the operations, the marketing. My mom was in the finance.
02:54I read nga, actually, parang they started with, what, less than 10,000 pesos?
02:5810,000 to 12,000 pesos. Just parang gifts from their wedding. Imagine, starting with 12,000.
03:02Ah, wedding gift.
03:04Wedding gift nila ginamit nila as capital.
03:06Yes, we started with that much amount and then it became the huge company that it is today. So, it's crazy.
03:13When you hear stories like that, is there like some sort of pressure on your part to make sure that you keep the company, you know, healthy, robust?
03:22Yes, of course, because we want to continue our parents' legacy. So, when we grow, we also copy it.
03:30It's like that's what happened to us. And also for our kids, no? And we continue to grow and innovate and be better.
03:38Yeah. The ultimate goal is to maintain this business for more decades, for more generations. I was really impressed with one of the companies that's 8th generation already.
03:48And that's the goal, no? To extend the company more than 10 generations, 20 generations.
03:53Are you hoping that your children will feel the same way, have the same passion that you do?
03:58I hope so.
03:59That's the plan.
04:00Definitely try to educate them to that.
04:04So, growing up, were you exposed already to the business?
04:07Yes. Yes.
04:08In what way?
04:09In my early years of my life, I was, we were living inside the plant. So, I really remember that.
04:13As in, yung bahay nyo nandun sa loob ng plant?
04:15Nandun sa loob ng plant. So, it was in Valenzuela. So, I really remember me eating, playing around with all the employees, all the manufacturing, seeing the lines, no?
04:26I remember na manual pa lahat eh. That's eventually naging automated. So, we grew up with that environment.
04:34And you have similar memories?
04:35Yeah. And just to add to what Alfonso's saying, I have memories as a kid. That's why my values is being grounded.
04:43Because I remember Christmas parties before the manufacturing facility.
04:47And what's one thing that I appreciate about my parents is they continuously engage with the rank and file.
04:54When there are Christmas parties, we have this group called the Kamaligs.
04:59They're like the first 50 employees of Splash.
05:01And even if the company was growing at a very fast rate, my parents always engaged with this group, the first 50, even at us, the bigger size of the company.
05:13So, they didn't forget about the Kamaligs.
05:16The Kamaligs?
05:17Oh, the Kamaligs.
05:18The first 50 employees.
05:20It's a term that we coined during that time.
05:24For them.
05:24For them.
05:24Oh, how nice. Do you know where that term came from?
05:27I think it's a shoulder-to-shoulder or something like that.
05:30Oh, okay, okay.
05:32So, that's one of the main values that I learned growing up was to be grounded.
05:37Don't forget that your early employees, your early customers, your early suppliers.
05:42And in fact, some of our suppliers way back in Splash are still our suppliers now to this day.
05:48And some of our distributor partners from way back in Splash is still our distributor partner today.
05:53Were you also involved in, I don't know, the day-to-day operations?
05:58Yeah, summer time. So, more simple stuff in coding, going to the office.
06:04It was part of our childhood.
06:07And also, exposure in business, we also had those.
06:10When we came back from college, some of the parents go,
06:15oh, you sit in meetings and attend all the different meetings.
06:18My dad used to joke, you don't have to go to MBA, just sit down in our leadership meetings.
06:23So, that was also one of the early exposures in business that we had.
06:27I'm so intrigued by your story about how the house is in the plant.
06:32So, when you're asleep, it's already there.
06:34Did it work well also in the sense that that meant your parents would have more time also with you?
06:38Because the house is already there.
06:40They were very busy.
06:41So, admittedly, even though during that time, the early parts, they were very busy.
06:46So, I just understood that it was for work.
06:49So, but when we moved out of the plant,
06:51I just realized when I was young.
06:53So, it wasn't like,
06:56they weren't always there.
06:57So, I kind of understood it.
06:59Yeah.
07:00Similar experience.
07:02My parents were really driven, ambitious people growing up.
07:06And they were just very busy.
07:09We didn't spend as much time as I wanted.
07:11But growing up, I understood how much important the sacrifices they did.
07:15After we sold Splash, the remaining brands was Bario Festa Manufacturing.
07:19So, we turned that into Prime Global Corporation as the FMCG company.
07:25So, nung nag-upisa kayo, it was just the Bario Festa bagoong, tama ba?
07:29And now, nag-venture out na kayo into other products?
07:31Yeah.
07:32As of this year, since we sold Splash way back in 2019,
07:36we had a non-competition.
07:37So, we can't compete with Splash for our first five years.
07:40So, no beauty products?
07:42No personal care, no beauty.
07:44But this year, it's exciting because we can go back.
07:47And we're very, very familiar with this category,
07:50the market of personal care and beauty.
07:52So, we will be relaunching new brands again.
07:55And we're exploring relaunching old brands,
07:58like Sansan, Cosmetics, if you're familiar.
08:01Yeah, of course.
08:02Parang na nung balik yung pagkabata ko.
08:04These are all familiar brands.
08:06Pero meron na rin kayong na relaunch so far?
08:08We launched the Hortaleza MD.
08:10That's actually also a relaunched brand.
08:13We also relaunched Hair MD.
08:15So, Hortaleza MD is our personal care brand in terms of facial.
08:18So, we have sunscreen, face wash, moisturizing gel,
08:21and we have a retinol product.
08:23And we also have Hair MD, a shampoo, conditioner.
08:26And by next year, we'll have cosmetics.
08:29So, Sansan, and we also have crayons.
08:32Crayons?
08:33Yeah, crayons.
08:33It's also another brand of HBC.
08:38So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:40So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:41So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:42So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:43So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:44So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:45So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:46So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:47So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:48So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:49So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:50So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:51So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:52So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:53So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:54So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
08:56So, we're going to be wearing a mask.
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