Manila FAME and the next in line

Capiz shells are popular glass substitutes. instagram.com/saci.phl

Manila FAME has been a platform for businessmen, artisans and designers to showcase products that are proudly Filipino-made to the world market. The trade show has been such a success in putting the spotlight on the best of Filipino design, ingenuity and craftsmanship that it has had an astounding number of 70 editions in 36 fruitful years.

During the country’s premier lifestyle and design trade event held on 17 to 19 October at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Manila FAME welcomed 6,000 local and foreign visitors and over 300 globally-competitive small and medium enterprises, exporters and manufacturers.

And with the trade show’s longevity comes the rise and growth of companies under its wing. Four next-generation exhibitors narrate their respective companies’ stories with Manila FAME: Meyte Chan from Shell Arts Co. Inc.; Jennifer Lo from Larone Crafts; Gerard Morales from Acento Collections and Leslie Bituin-Mendiola from JB Woodcrafts.

Meyte shared their over-four-decade-old company’s humble beginnings as well as her experiences with it.

“During my childhood, from my most vivid memory of being around the factory, being around the workers, being around my grandmother who has been in the industry since the 1960s, I just saw how hard she was working. I think, since she started at such a blessed time as well, her privilege was not the same privilege I have. To see her work hard and create an identity and a culture that if I go abroad and I see Capiz, I know it’s Filipino. You just have to see something truly you, truly your culture,” Meyte shared.

Jennifer recalls going to shows with her mom manning Larone when she was young, stating, “I remember how it was very festive. (There) were so many people and so buyers, foreign buyers, coming in. My mom started the business when I was two years old.”

Gerard recalls a very wholesome and fun experience when his father was still running Acento Collections.

“Most of our clients were Japanese. Traditionally, Japanese would like to establish trust before they actually order. It would take a couple of years before they actually order. Imagine having dinner with them at our house and having my youngest sister singing Japanese songs — establishing the fact that we’re trustworthy people before the first order comes. The good thing about it is, having established trust, they won’t leave you forever,” he says.

Change is inevitable, but companies have their own ways of keeping their business afloat through challenges and their products in tune with the demands of the time.

During our interview with the next-gen entrepreneurs, some of them had their parents with them. They added insights about their respective companies.

Leslie’s mom, Myrna, proudly shares how she and her husband are lucky to have four children who embody the values and passion for their business, JB Woodcrafts.

“Pag-gising nila, naaamoy na nila yung kahoy, naaamoy na nila yung barnis so nakikita nila yung magagandang rosas (As soon as they wake up, they smell the scent of wood, they smell the scent of varnish, so they see the beautiful roses). We are very lucky. There are four companies but they are not the same. They work in very different ways. They have different clients. They have different ways of dealing with clients but at the end of the day, I’m happy for them because they take good care of their workers. Our workers are almost retirees. I always tell them, without taking good care of our workers, they cannot work on the product that you need,” Myrna shares.

Veronica, Jennifer’s mom, shares how they made a few changes but were able to keep the technical side of their business intact.

“We all use indigenous materials and of course designs before evolved but we always keep in mind our strength. We try to target a certain market by giving better designs and better workmanship,” Veronica stated.

Gerard, who was with his father, shared how they dabbled in different products throughout the years.

“Through the course of almost four decades, we have really reinvented ourselves from 40 years ago. We made rattan baskets then, once China did that, we went to woodcraft and then China did that. We went to shell crafts, we went to ceramics, wrought iron… we really reinvented ourselves for a long time before actually getting into blowing glass. We have been making glass for the past 20 years but I think we’ve parted from glass because it’s something a little more difficult to do because it’s highly technical,” he stated.

His father then narrated his experience dabbling in different products and how it wasn’t as smooth sailing as everyone assumes it is.

“Actually we were producing rattan before and the production of rattan is really very good. Everything was very smooth but later on, the rattan materials started to dwindle so I was thinking of what else to do. So I went into a convention and went into ceramics but then ceramics died because China killed us all,” he laughed.

“And then I was thinking of what else can we do that will not be imitated so I was thinking of blowing glass. Nobody blows glass in the Philippines so I had to hire an Italian glass blower to teach us how to do it and then we were taught and then we trained the Filipino glass blowers. Then we started blowing glass then there’s our competition (again),” he added.

He reiterated how they are able to keep producing now, stating, “We became designers for China. Every show, we have to make 12 to 15 collections and then we get an order of eight from the collections. Until it dies, we have to produce it again.”

Many companies have flourished with the help of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) and the Department of Trade and Industry through Manila FAME.

These next-gen exhibitors attest to how their parents’ businesses prospered under Manila FAME.

According to Gerard, “Manila FAME has been a benchmark for Asia. We come up with the designs and our designers are renowned worldwide. Chances are, if you find a successful company in the world, it was a Filipino designer somewhere back there. Manila FAME has been able to launch a lot of companies, introducing them from someone who’s beginning until he’s honed to actually being able to export for trade show plans of CITEM.”

Meanwhile, Veronica shares, “I started the company in 1984. We really just started small and then we started joining Manila FAME when they started also, so now we are 35 years in the business.

And through Manila FAME we were able to expand the business because we were able to meet more buyers who have been joining Manila FAME every year until now.”

Finally, Leslie proudly states, “Our clients are the ones doing shows for us abroad. But now, with the help of CITEM, it was the first time for us to join the Paris fair. We used to do a lot of shows overseas but it’s not our brand anymore. For us, it’s a privilege to be able to bring our own name overseas which we had not done before.”

For more information on Manila FAME’s 70th edition, visit manilafame.com and follow its social media accounts at @ManilaFAMEofficial on Facebook, @TheManilaFAME on Twitter and @manilafame on Instagram.