Retirees create ice cream that leave others cold By: Meluchi A. Rivera Inquirer News Service July 20, 2002 SUCCESS tastes sweet, or so the saying goes. For Fruits in Ice Cream (FIC), it is also rich and creamy, with just the right hint of tartness. FIC, you see, has gained a loyal following mainly by word-of-mouth. And all the brand needs to sell itself is a spoonful of any of its variants in Mango, Ube, Halo-Halo, Vanilla, Tsokolate, Cappuccino, Green Tea, Rocky Road, Macapuno, Strawberry and Durian. Proof of this success is how Jose Celdran, Rosalinda Custodio, Edgardo Garcia and Vivien Ongkiko, the four active partners of The Food People Inc., have lately been swamped with inquiries from franchisees eager to cash in on this seeming sure-fire winner. FIC has been described by fans as "among the best ice cream around," and the four have received letters from as far as Davao and Iloilo, from people who have become converts after tasting one, two-or most-of its 11 flavors. While FIC seems to have burst into popularity only recently, it has been around nearly five years now. FIC has been mainly exported to Japan and the United States, where its exotic Ube, Mango and Macapuno flavors are a perennial hit. The brand has also been supplied to a few restaurants and home-based distributors locally. "FIC has been sold in Tagaytay Highlands since 1998," Celdran reveals, and adds, smiling: "In fact, some of our first patrons still refer to our product as 'the ice cream at Highlands.'" Retirees-turned-entrepreneurs The enterprise behind FIC, The Food People Inc., is made up of youthful "retirees" from Magnolia, San Miguel Corp.'s (SMC) erstwhile ice cream brand which has since been purchased by Nestle. Ongkiko and Celdran had been part of Magnolia's export group, and were essentially reorganized out of their jobs after some corporate rethinking at SMC. Ditto for Custodio, who had worked at Magnolia's product development department for 17 years; and Garcia who had logged 12 years with SMC's agribusiness division. Two other inactive partners, Rafael Tuason – now deceased – and Cesar Geronimo, round out this unlikely band of ex-SMC "lifers"-turned-entrepreneurs. Save for Celdran, the retirees had hardly entertained entrepreneurial thoughts before going into this venture. But they all shared a firm belief in the viability of the product, had the right connections in export markets, and over 50 years of experience in the food industry between them. Celdran relates: "Because we had come from the export division, we knew that there was a market for a premium, tropical fruit ice cream, primarily for export. When we started we already knew buyers for the United States and Japan; and were talking to distributors in Brunei, other Asian markets." But the venture began in 1997, when the Asian currency crisis was just beginning to be felt. "A lot of our regional prospects dried up," Ongkiko admits. But the partners persisted, pooling money from their retirement packages and contracting out production to toll manufacturers. By September of that year they had their first shipment; and within another three months most of FIC's flavors were in production. There were painful adjustments in the beginning. As Ongkiko notes, "From a big, structured corporation to an endeavor such as this, it was difficult at times. We were used to having support groups but now, we have to do everything ourselves!" She reveals their limited human resource actually inspired their corporate name, as "I am the Food Person for Marketing, Joey (Celdran) is the Food Person for Business Development, Osang (Custodio) is the Food Person for Product Development, Ed (Garcia) is the Food Person for Finance . . . " As the Food Person for Product Development, Custodio keeps tabs on quality and is largely to thank for FIC's silky consistency, its right balance of tastes and flavors, its visually appealing colors and swirls. She modestly avers that "it's easy to come up with the flavors; it's the sourcing of ingredients that is the bottleneck." The perennial hurdle is finding flavors locally, as the company's small size limits their dealings with the large flavor suppliers. But smallness has its upsides: Recently, FIC came up with the Raspberry Rhapsody flavor as part of its limited-edition gourmet selection-the outcome of a happy accident more than anything else. The Food People had stumbled upon the batch, which was the over-shipment of a donut manufacturer's. The end result: what the partners acknowledge as one of FIC's best flavors. "We're a small company so we can be opportunistic with our purchases," Ongkiko explains.

The history of FIC's growth can be described as opportunistic. They had no grand development blueprint; instead they opted to go with the flow. New plant Take for instance their purchase of their own factory in Bulacan in the first quarter of this year. "It wasn't a bold decision on our part to purchase the plant, it just happened," Celdran reveals. One of FIC's contract manufacturers had decided to give up their ice cream plant and made them an offer too good to refuse. "He gave us a good deal on the equipment; essentially he made it easy for us to acquire it. And we absorbed most of the people." The plant has effectively upped the ante for FIC. Garcia, who has of late also become the de-facto Food Person for Plant Operations, explains that production is taken up evenly by the export and local markets. "But now that the plant is ours, we can be more flexible in terms of scheduling and of developing new products." Celdran reveals that with their new plant, FIC can now aim for a higher local profile. Much of the recent buzz on FIC stemmed from the opening of its flagship scooping station at the Rockwell Power Plant Mall, operated by Celdran's wife. Another outlet, at Shopwise Libis, is operated by friend Eric Rodriguez; and soon FIC will be a familiar sight in malls in Alabang and Makati. FIC is also supplied to a growing list of restaurants like Kimpura, California Pizza Kitchen, Tequila Joe's, Matti, Portico and Buddies. The partners however have no illusions of going head-on with the big local brands. FIC is priced higher than the local Nestle‚ and Selecta brands but is much cheaper than imports such as Haagen Dazs and Dreyers; and the brand hopes to appeal to food buffs "who really just like their ice cream," explains Celdran. "It wouldn't make sense for us to directly compete anyway," he says, shrugging. "Like Nestle, for instance, imagine how much money we'd have to spend to compete." "We're just like the mosquito biting the giant," Custodio interjects, laughing. Their entry into the entrepreneurial arena has changed their view on success. Says Ongkiko: "We don't aspire to be a big corporation, because then it won't be fun. Call us idealistic but we have reached a point wherein making money is secondary. We just want to do business honorably." Another insight gained is that successful local businessmen are very eager to help out to fledgling entrepreneurs. Celdran relates that suppliers graciously entertained FIC's first modest orders for plastic tubs and boxes. "A lot of them also started out small, and were helped by other businessmen, so they wanted to give us a break too." The man who sold them the ice cream plant also wanted to see them succeed. "He kept saying, 'it's hard enough to do business these days, I shouldn't add to your problems.'" Custodio notes that the company has come this far because of the partners' knowledge of the food industry; but it also takes something extra to succeed in business. "We've been very fortunate to have dealt with so many good people. Call it luck, karma or divine providence; but things just managed to work out when we needed them to." Abetted by such goodwill, the partners have almost no choice but to persevere in the business-and to pay the goodwill forward. This means sharing their know-how with suppliers and employees. Garcia also notes that with 14 full-time employees, "we're essentially supporting 14 families," a responsibility that they do not take lightly. It also helps that the partners of The Food People have forged real friendships with each other. Through the years, Celdran, Ongkiko, Custodio and Garcia have discovered they have similar work ethics and viewpoints. "There's a deeper trust when you work well together and then realize that you can also be friends," Ongkiko reveals. She notes that many businesses have risen and faltered because the partners start out as friends and then realized, "I can't work with this person!" Indeed, their shared dream for FIC, as Ongkiko describes it, is to come up with "the most luxurious, ultimate ice cream" using only the finest ingredients; with whole fruits-no purees, please; the freshest milk and the richest cream. "Maybe when the market's ready." < more Reviews >