Or why an ongoing exhibit of Salvador Bernal’s costumes and miniature set designs at DLS-CSB honors the late National Artist for Theater Design and his mastery of the literary classics
Take good care of your bodies; it’s the only place you have to live in.’—Anonymous
“I’m happy championing Organique Acai premium Blend juice, the brand whose vision and mission I advocate. I am very pleased to be associated with the company that fulfills its promises and whose message is aligned with my personal beliefs and lifestyle,” Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez, former Ford Supermodel and now health buff gushed to us in our Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel forum.
Tweetie has a certain healthy youthful glow about her now in her more “matured” age. She is an actress, entrepreneur, and a mother of four children, one in college already.
Sportswoman Tweetie owns and manages TdLG, a boutique that designs and manufactures handcrafted jewelry, mostly made from kamagong. Her pieces of art are attracting buyers around the country and the world.
Such an active and busy lifestyle is only for the very fit and truly healthy. And a healthy lifestyle is precisely what Organique Acai Premium Blend is providing its rapidly growing base of loyal users like Tweetie who attests to its potency as a health and wellness product.
Organique Acai Premium Blend, as well as its other products, is made from the juice of acai berries, antioxidant-rich fruits native to the rainforests of Brazil that have been heralded for centuries as healing, immune-stimulating, and energy-boosting “superfoods.” It is also packed with vitamins and minerals and high concentration of vitamin C and Ellagic acid, an immune-system-boosting combination that has been shown to suppress the growth of cancer.
In the product, the acai berry juice is enhanced by other natural juice extracts such as organic evaporated cane juice, apple juice concentrate, Acerola juice, and green tea extract to create a smooth, healthy, and delicious all-natural drink that contains no harmful additives, preservatives, or GMOs.
But perhaps what really makes Tweetie the ideal spokesperson and brand ambassador for Organique was her first-hand experience with the premium blend. Although she has always led an active lifestyle and has always eaten balanced and well-portioned meals, she discovered two years ago that she had acid reflux.
“What I had was a very extreme case of acid reflux,” she recalled. “I consulted several doctors and tried everything but it just wouldn’t go away.”
For a time, she was dependent on over-the-counter medication for first aid and maintenance. Then, she met Cathy Salimbangon, a nurse, and now executive vice president of Organique, which she co-founded with her husband Elton seven years ago, and is behind the company’s rapid growth in the Philippines.
“Since my first drink of Organique, I have been able to manage my hyperacidity without the help of strong medicines, save for a few severe cases of an attack,” Tweetie said.
Cathy, originally from Cebu, began her professional life as a registered nurse, has always put a premium on health. Today, as the executive vice president and the driving force behind the phenomenal growth of Organique Inc., she knows the importance of keeping fit and healthy. She and her husband worked in healthcare institutions for the aged in Canada and the US. “This experience made us see how important health is to a person’s ability to lead a happy, fulfilling life, and we thought we should bring this message to the Philippines where people are not yet that health-conscious.”
In 2008, Elton came across an infomercial that featured the acai berry and its many health benefits. Elton, who was then already working in a manufacturing company that produced health drinks, told his boss about the infomercial and was advised that their firm was in the process of developing an acai-based drink. Since the company’s first acai product failed, Elton asked his boss if he could reformulate it.
“The acai berry even then was already widely recognized as ‘The World’s No.1 Superfood,’” Cathy explains. “So we thought that bringing this amazing, nutrient-rich fruit to the Philippines would be the best and most effective way of spreading the message about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.”
So Elton worked long and hard with their company’s research and development team to come up with a feasible product for the ordinary health conscious and the Filipinos’ taste buds.
After many months of experimentation, Elton and his team finally got the consistency and the taste right in the formulation they came up with. This formula is used today for the Organique Acai Premium Blend, their flagship product.
Encouraged by the positive feedback, and endorsements from the likes of beauty and health guru Cory Quirino, composer and medical doctor Mon del Rosario (who wrote the brands catchy jingle and swears to the juice’s help in maintaining male virility), and dermatologist Dra. Sarah Barba Cabodil, the couple decided to push on. The idea of establishing a company to manufacture and market the health drink began to take shape as Cathy started selling it to her family and friends. In the beginning, they simply purchased excess acai berries from the company where Elton worked, but as their product expanded into a respected health brand they bought their own supply of berries. These berries are now processed into juice form in California. It has won approval from both the US Food and Drug Association and the Philippines’ FDA, too.
Today, Organique is a multinational corporation with an expanding product line that now includes Organique Acai Freeze Dried Caps, essentially its flagship blend in capsule form, and The Naked Soap, the company’s first beauty product. These products are sold in Watsons, Mercury Drug, Robinsons Supermarket, and Southstar Drugstore outlets nationwide. They are also available in several markets in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, and the Middle East.
Here’s to health, beauty, and even weight loss (the juice tells your brain cells you are not hungry) with the Organique Acai juice! (mb.com)
