Firm finds success in going green
THEY started as a small furniture factory making rattan products in the early 90s.
Pedro "Pete" Herrera Delantar Jr., president and chief executive officer of Nature's Legacy Eximport Inc., said he and his wife, Cathy, started the business with a capital of P30,000 and two employees in Compostela town.
In 1996, the couple added home and garden accessories and started innovating using new materials such as recyclable waste from another company as a component in their products.
But it wasn't until 2000 when the couple decided to completely shift to manufacturing environment-friendly or green products.
The shift happened while the couple was implementing a clean and green program at their factory in Compostela.
They noticed that there were many weeds and twigs surrounding their factory. The couple instead of burning the weeds decided to recycle and found a way to use them as raw materials for their products.
"We realized these are raw materials na kita abundant kayo na wala lang nato gi tagad ba (We realized that we have the abundant raw materials but we took them for granted until the factory cleanup)," Pete said.
The couple experimented and came out with products made from agro-forestry waste which they launched as Naturecast in Germany in 2004.
Pete said they launched the product in 2004 because German consumers were already familiar with eco-friendly products.
AT THE GRAMMY'S
Since their launch in Germany, the Delantars haven't looked back. Their products are recognized worldwide, and in 2008, their Naturecast's furniture were among the pieces of furniture used at the Grammy Awards Celebrity lounge during the 50th Grammy Awards night. Celebrities like Andrea Bocelli and Foo Fighters lead vocalist Eric Grohl relaxed and sat at one of the Naturecast creations.
Delantar cited innovation as a factor in their success.
"You have to be innovative. Innovate your materials, your application and manufacturing process and create a new market demand," he said.
"Be resilient. In case there's a failure, move on. Be fast in reacting to crises and setbacks. Be quick to respond to failure," he said.
He also stressed the importance of having a good , dedicated team to adopt change in an honest and open environment.
He said another secret for the firm's success was reinvesting earnings back to the business.
"Unya naka mo enjoy kung tan-aw nimo naka stabilize naka. Tanawon jud nimo daan ang infrastructure. (You can only enjoy after the firm had stabilized. You should first look at the infrastructure first.)"
In Nature's Legacy, Pete reinvested his earnings by building and developing his factory.
"Capability first before opportunity. Kay kung capable ka, ang opportunity mo sud na kay naa na may kahibaw na kahibaw ka mohimo (Capability first before opportunity. If you're capable, the opportunity would come because if there are people you manufacture these things then others would eventually know about these) ," he said.
Nature's Legacy has now 120 workers in its factory. It also has 100 local gatherers who would provide it with raw materials.
According to Pete, they decided to put up their business in the countryside in order to support and develop a model of inclusive growth in the rural area.
It has been very important to Pete to generate employment in the countryside in order to give opportunities to those who are living in the province.
Some of the Nature's Legacy employees are graduates from Cebu Technological University (CTU). They also accept on-the-job-trainees and majority of their interns are students of Industrial Engineering, Industrial Technology, Drafting and Maintenance of CTU.
Most of the raw materials of Nature's Legacy are sourced locally.
Nature's Legacy is an international manufacturer of home, lawn and garden equipment, fashion accessories and packaging.
Locally, they also manufacture fashion accessories which are sold at Kultura, Rustans, Pro Foods Gallery and Echo store.
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